The Team
by roxycryluv
Summary: The 21st Century is when everything changes, but how much more would it change if the Doctor and Rose got stranded and joined the team? Rewrite of Torchwood to include the Doctor and Rose!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Alright so as guilty as I feel for starting a third new story, there's plot bunnies, and they are hopping around going WRITE ME WRITE ME WRITE ME and I'm sorry but the bunnies' word is law. I must write them. If I don't know you hi! I'm Roxy, and this is my new story. It is going to be a Who/Torchwood Xover, and will be following Torchwood's storyline... mostly. It will take place before Doomsday and I guess is a fix-it? But Martha just works for Torchwood 1, doesn't actually travel with them. With my own special twists :D So I hope you enjoy!**

_Disclaimer: THIS IS HOW I SHOW MY LOVE. I BLAME IT ON MY TV BECAUSE. IT ALL BELONGS TO BBC BABY. (sung to the tune of SAIL, by AWOL Nation)_

"Doctor!" Rose's voice rang into the control room, and the Doctor grinned softly. He turned as Rose bounded into the large circular room, where the green glow of the TARDIS lit the room. The Doctor grinned at his best friend. She had on her favorite pink hoodie and black tank top. "Where are we goin' today?" She grinned up at him excitedly, her London cockney as thick as ever.

"Wherever you want," He grinned at her. He meant it. If she asked him to go anywhere, he would go. He was so far gone, he couldn't deny the girl a thing. This never happened to him, he was a Time Lord. Time Lords didn't just get roped in by young blondes from the estates. But there was just something about Rose. She was just so much more than what she appeared, and as soon as he saw who she was outside of her average life, she shone, and nobody could help but be drawn to her.

She smiled a blindingly bright smile. "What about Barcelona? If I recall, you promised me dogs with no noses," She trapped her tongue between her teeth, and the Doctor couldn't help but stare at the little sliver of pink. He quickly forced his eyes away however. It wouldn't do for Rose to think he was staring. He smiled back at her and twisted a dial on the console. He set the date, and typed in the coordinates before he was off on a mad dash around the round control center.

Rose stood back and watched him dance around the console. She loved watching him as he piloted his ship. He was just so graceful. She really was done for. She was mad about him, but he didn't seem to notice. So she stayed quiet. It was better than telling him and being immediately taken back home to eat and sleep and work and do nothing more. She loved this life. And she really liked her pilot too. She was quickly distracted from these thoughts as the pilot in question asked her to press down a button to her left.

After a couple of minutes, alarms started to go off, and the Doctor's dance became even more frenzied.

"Doctor! What's going on!" Rose shouted over the rattling and groaning of the ship and the blaring alarms.

"Uhhh... Not sure! Guess we'll find out?" He looked over at her in concern, and was surprised to see that she had the same look, but directed at the ship.

"Will she be ok?"

"Yea! I think! Possibly!" He rambled. In truth he wasn't sure. And that scared him to no end. The TARDIS landed with a large crash, and the Doctor pulled himself and Rose up off of the grating. He looked at a monitor. The date was pretty near Rose's time. 2006, around March. They had landed in Cardiff, too. That wasn't too bad, he thought. At least Rose had grown to like Cardiff despite her Londoner mindset. The blonde in question raised her eyes up to look at him.

"Doctor, where are we?"

"Uhhh... Cardiff?"

"Cardiff, Earth? As in where the rift is?" He nodded and went to inspect the console.

"She won't tell me what's wrong. Apparently she's... she's changed a time-line?" He caught glimpses of the old one, Something about Cybermen, Daleks, and the void. Whatever it was, he didn't want Rose anywhere near it.

He looked up at Rose, putting on a cheerier face. "Well whatever it is, how about we go outside and-" He stopped himself as something appeared on the monitors. His face turned white, and he could feel his stomach drop to his feet.

"Doctor? Doctor, what is it, what's wrong?" Rose asked, worried.

"She has to go away for a while. As in leave. Not with us. To sustain this new timeline, we have to stay here for a while. In Cardiff. I'm sorry Rose,"

"You're worried about _me_ right now?! Doctor, I'll be fine. Will you? Your ship is leaving, I mean, she's your _ship_!" Rose grabbed his hand as he watched her speak. True his ship was all he had left of Gallifrey. It would be difficult sure, but do-able. He looked over at his best friend. She was studying his face, trying to gauge his thoughts.

"I'll be fine Rose. Just... Promise you won't leave?" He met her eyes and she nodded.

"I'm never leavin' you. Promise." She gave him a small smile, and he grinned back.

They separated to go throw their things in a bag, and Rose came back out with her large duffel. Grabbing her hand, the Doctor walked slowly over to the door. He scanned the TARDIS, saying goodbye to his beloved ship. Rose squeezed his hand supportively, and ran a hand over one of the coral struts. She was going to miss this ship. It was were she had lived for two years now, and it had become more of a home than even her mum's apartment. She took a deep breath as they opened the door and stepped out. After a few moments, they heard the groaning and wheezing of the engines as the TARDIS disappeared. Rose grabbed the Doctor's hand again, and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into a hug, and rested his chin on the very top of his head. He pressed a kiss to her hair and she snuggled further into the hug.

The moment was shattered however when a familiar voice rang out. "ROSE! DOCTOR!" The two broke apart and turned to see a familiar beaming face running towards them.

"Jack?!" Rose grinned and launched herself into the man's arms. He picked her up and the two laughed as he swung her back and forth. He finally set her back down and he pulled away after a moment.

"In the flesh," He grinned down at her before looking over at the new, new Doctor, as Rose had dubbed him. He had known about regeneration, so it didn't come as too much of a shock to see a new Doctor, what did surprise him was how pretty he was, especially after his last incarnation's dislike of pretty boys. Although, looking back on it, that was probably just jealousy talking. "Nice regeneration. Very... pretty." Rose was confused at the Doctor's discomfort.

"Doctor? What's wrong?" He looked back at her.

"It's nothing just... Jack's a fixed point in time. It's a bit... upsetting for a Timelord to experience that. It's unnatural. It's taking a lot of effort not to run in the opposite direction right now, actually. It's my instincts."

"What?" Rose looked even more confused now. "A fixed point in time? What does that even mean? Doctor?"

Jack spoke before the other man could reply. "It means I can't die. I will never die. Ever. I just keep coming back." He stopped and took a breath. Suddenly he swung his arm back and slammed his fist into the Doctor's stomach. The man doubled over and groaned, the air leaving him. He stumbled back, the air leaving him. It took a moment for Rose to process what had happened.

"Jack! What the hell?!"

"You left me!" He shouted to the man who was straightening up again. The man grabbed Rose's arm as her eyes flashed.

"Rose, no. He's right. I deserve it. I'm sorry Jack. Really, I am." The man in question studied him a moment before smiling.

"So where's the TARDIS?" He noticed the way their faces fell at the mention of their home. They explained the situation to Jack, and he looked at them. This obviously wouldn't be easy. But, when opportunity knocked...

"Tell you what. I run a unit of Torchwood. You actually landed just outside our base. And before you ask, no, we are not full of assholes like Torchwood 1. We work by ourselves. And we defend the Earth. Interested?"

They had already gotten the grand tour and had met everyone. Rose and Suzie were in deep conversation about the resurrection gauntlet, and Tosh and Owen were each working on various things for that very case. Jack and the Doctor stood just outside Jack's office. They were studying the team, but Jack noticed that the Doctor's eyes kept flickering back to Rose. He grinned as this happened for the 15th time.

"You tell her yet?" The wild-haired man looked over at him.

"Tell her what?"

"You know, don't play dumb. You're crazy about her, so tell her that." The Doctor swallowed and met the other man's.

"I want to. I really do, but I can't. She's human, Jack. She will wither and die, and I'll have to watch her. I love her. I can't be allowed to have her and then have to lose her so soon. I just... can't." Jack nodded in understanding. Then he saw Owen answer his phone. He talked for a moment then closed it.

"Oi, Jack. We got another murder." The team packed up their equipment, Rose and the Doctor helping them carry things out the the large black van that was parked outside. As they pulled out of the drive, Tosh debriefed them, and Rose took a deep breath. This was her new job, the same but new. Her and the Doctor, saving the World.

**I hope you like it! I would be extra super happy if you would review and all that, because I am sick and yea. For me? To make me happy? Pleeeeaaase? Follow and Favorite? That little button down below wants to be pushed! Xoxo, Roxy**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Everything Changes]

**Hey guys so I'm getting this up really fast because yea hi! So I hope you guys enjoy this, I could NOT get this idea out of my head! So yea it is gonna be a bit AU besides from it being a cross over. Anyway, enjoy!**

The team arrived at the crime scene and piled out of the van. The Doctor kept an eye on Rose, watching her reactions. This was a murder, and it was a bloody one. The victim had been stabbed in the back with a knife and died on the sidewalk. The police had no idea why, but Torchwood had priority. As they arrived, they saw the officers clearing out. They each ducked under the yellow tape and approached as the body came into view. It was raining out, and the puddle underneath the victim had turned red from the blood seeping from his back. The group began taking readings and setting up their equipment, Suzie grabbing the glove from her bag and slipping it on her hand.

"There you go. Oestrogen, I can taste it. Definitely Oestrogen. You take the pill, flush it away. It enters the water stream, feminizes the fish. Goes all the way up into the sky, then falls back down onto me. Contraceptives in the rain. Love this planet," He winked at Rose who shook her head at him as he continued. "Still, at least I won't get pregnant. Never doing that again. How's it going Suze?"

She closed her eyes and appeared to be concentrating as she layed the dead man's head in her gloved hand. "Nothing yet. It's got to connect. I've got to feel it."

"Well hurry up and feel it, I'm freezing my arse off over here," Owen grumbled, holding up a small video camera.

"It doesn't work like that Owen, it's like access. It grants me access. I just have to-" She cut off with a gasp as she connected, and the dead man opened his eyes with a jerk. Rose jumped, startled, eyes wide.

"Oh my god, I was, I was, there was- I was going home," The dead man rambled until Tosh cut him off.

"Listen to me. You've only got two minutes, so it's important that you listen, okay?"

The man's eyes were wide and panicked. "Who are you?"

Tosh met his eyes. "Trust me. You're dead."

"How am I dead?"

"You were stabbed,"

"I'm not dead. I can see you," The Doctor could see the man struggling to wrap his brain around this idea.

"We've brought you back," continued Tosh, "But we haven't got long. I'm sorry, you need to concentrate. Who did this to you? What did you see?"

"Why am I dead?"

"You've got to concentrate,"

"I don't want to be dead!" The man's eyes were wide and sad.

"Sixty Seconds," Ianto interjected

"You've got to think. Who did this to you? What do you remember?"

"I couldn't see, there was something behind me."

"One stab wound in the back," The Doctor reminded Tosh.

"So you didn't see anything," Tosh said, realization hitting her.

"Thirty Seconds,"

"What else do I say?" Tosh looked up at them, confused. Rose pushed to the front of the group. The Doctor watched as she spoke to the man soothingly.

"What's your name?"

"John, John Tucker."

"Okay John. Not long now."

"Who are you?" The man looked up at her with wide eyes. She grabbed the man's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I'm Rose Tyler. Can I ask, what was it like? When you died?"

"Ten Seconds"

The man paused, and looked like he was a mile away. "Nothing. I saw nothing. Oh my god, there's nothing," After finishing that sentence, his eyes unfocused again, and he was dead. Rose reached up and closed his eyes before releasing the man's hand and stepping back again. The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him. She was taken aback by the pride that she saw in his eyes.

Owen clicked the video camera off. "Shit. I said it was stupid, telling him he was dead."

"We told the last guy he was wounded, and he spent the whole two minutes screaming for an ambulance. Maybe there is now right way to do it." Suddenly he looked up to the top of the parking structure they were next to. "What do you think?" He shouted up to a police woman who was leaning over the balcony. Her eyes widened and she quickly backed away. Rose looked over at Jack.

"Did she see all of that?"

"Yup."

"And you're not worried?"

"Nope." Rose looked at him for a moment before shrugging and turning to help pack up the equipment. They loaded back up into the van and headed back to the hub.

When they arrived, everyone dropped off their equipment. The others left for the day, but Jack, Rose, and the Doctor lingered. Rose was thinking about where they were going to stay. She had no idea. Jack answered her question though when he led them to a medium sized bed room.

"It'll do for now, but I don't know if you'll want to stay here long. Might wanna find a bigger place," Jack smiled at them kindly before leaving them to it.

The next morning, Rose rolled over on the bed, stretching herself awake. She gasped and nearly fell off the bed when she noticed there was someone beside her. Quickly regaining her senses, she remembered where she was. The Doctor was still snoozing next to her. He must have only fallen asleep a couple of hours ago, as Timelords' 'superior biology' meant he didn't need much sleep. Rose grinned at this rare sight. He looked so peaceful asleep, his messy hair more wild than usual. She giggled and tapped his shoulder. He groaned and rolled over. She pushed him more strongly, and he groaned again, not moving. She finally punched him on the arm, and he flinched awake, groaning out a response.

"Is this how you wake people up? Abusing them?" Rose laughed, and the Doctor rolled onto his side and smiled at her. Even if he did get woken up with a punch, hearing her laugh like that first thing in the morning was definitely worth that and more. They both quickly got dressed, Rose in the small bathroom and the Doctor in the main room. Rose walked out wearing a black leather jacket over a white top, and jeans. The Doctor was wearing his usual brown pinstripes, with his red converses. He grinned at Rose as she brushed through her wild bed head, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"So yesterday, Rose. The way you talked to that man. Y'know. The dead one. That was really..." He trailed off as she looked back at him in the mirror. "That was incredible Rose. You're incredible." He finished, and saw her cheeks flame red.

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him as she put her brush down. "Now c'mon! We've got our second day of work ahead of us," She grinned, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the room. They chattered all the way down to the kitchen, where they both ate. As they finished up, the rest of the team filed in, each grabbing food. Then Jack came bounding in.

"Alright, rise and shine!" he grinned at the team as Ianto walked in behind them, a tray of coffee in his hands. The team groaned in relief as they each got their coffee, thanking Ianto heartily. Jack clapped his hands together.

"Alright, everyone's got their fix, now let's get to work." The team dispersed to do their various jobs, the Doctor helping Tosh analyze some data, Owen down in the medical room, reviewing the footage. Suzie and Rose were speculating about a strangely shaped knife, and Jack was typing up a report. Suddenly an alarm went, off, and the veterans at this calmly got up and gathered equipment. Rose and the Doctor looked at each other, confused. Jack pulled them up.

"C'mon, we've got a Weevil to catch." They all walked out to the van and quickly drove over to a hospital. With a few flashes of a badge, they had the top floor quarantined off. As they got up to the top, they all were on high alert, and Owen was the first to spot it.

"Over here," he said quietly. The weevil walked around a corner. Rose stared after it. She had never seen this before, and she had seen a lot of species. She looked over at the Doctor, and he looked just as confused as her. This was a species had never encountered before. They were each handed a spray of some kind.

"Don't spray it on yourself," Jack said with a serious face. "And be careful. These are extremely dangerous."

They paused as they heard someone roaming around, aparently talking to someone.

"...Alright, I said we can stop being silly now," The voice continued. Another man soon joined her, a porter, and he was explaining his confusion to the woman when he noticed something. Rose had a sinking feeling that it was the Weevil. They quickly moved forward, but they didn't quite get there in time. They turned the corner just as the Weevil sunk it's teeth into the man's neck. Blood shot from the wound, and the team rushed forward, pulling the weevil off the man, they began to spray the weevil. Jack forced a bag over it, and Rose grabbed the woman's arm, dragging her away from the scene.

"Run," She told her as she pushed her into the stair way. Closing the door she ran back to the group. They were wrestling with the Weevil, keeping it calm, until it suddenly relaxed. She assumed that the spray was a sedative. She turned to see if the porter had a chance of making it, and quickly realized from the amount of blood on the floor that he was already dead. She felt a dropping feeling inside of her. What a terrible way to go. She quickly looked away, and helped get the weevil down to the van, where they put it in the boot.

When they had locked it up in the holding cells, they gather around a monitor. It was showing a security clip of Gwen Cooper. They had done some research and had found her name. She was a police woman, and she had followed them back to the hub in a cruiser. She was now standing outside 2 and a half hours later. She walked into the local pizza joint and came back out after a bit, holding a pizza and walking towards their entrance.

As Gwen walked in, they were all doing their different tasks. Rose and the Doctor were each typing at a computer, Suzie was welding away at a strange looking knife, and Owen was studying a paper which had a heart monitor and brain wave chart on it. Tosh was working on four computer screens at once. As she walked past Owen and Tosh, Tosh let out a small giggle, and Owen started to laugh too before speaking.

"I can't do it! I'm sorry! I'm rubbish, I give up!"

Tosh looked at him accusingly, and Rose and the Doctor burst into fits of giggles they had barely been repressing.

"He was tickling me!" Rose pointed at the Doctor, who gave her a smirk.

"Well that lasted not point two seconds," Suzie smiled.

"Hm, she's actually carrying pizza."

"Come on, she was gonna say here's your pizza, and I was going to say, how much? And she says, oh, whatever, twenty quid, and I say, ooo, I don't have any money. I was working on a punchline. I'd have got there. But it would've been good," Jack grinned from his spot on the upper level.

"Knowing you, Jack, it would have been something wildly innapropriate and slightly disturbing," The Doctor shot up at him with a grin.

Gwen looked nervous. "Here's your pizza, I think I'd better go."

"I think we've gone past that stage,"

"You must have been freezing out there, you were hangin' around, what, three hours?" Rose asked rhetorically.

"You could see me?"

Jack spoke before anyone could respond. "Before we go any further, who the hell orders pizza under the name of Torchwood?"

Owen raised a hand. "Yea, sorry, that'd be me. I'm a twat." Rose cuffed the back of his head and he shot the team an apologetic look. Gwen started to ask about the Porter, and was appalled that they covered up his death.

"That other man, John Tucker? Last night, in the alley way. I saw you."

"And what did you see?"

"You revived him."

"No. What did you see?"

"You resuscitated him."

"No. What did you see?"

"You brought him back to life." Gwen finally said. Jack nodded.

"Yea."

"Who are you?"

"Torchwood."

"What's Torchwood?" 

"This is Torchwood. All around you." 

"And what happens to me? I'm police. Constable Gwen Cooper. You can't do anything." 

"Right then, PC Cooper. Do you want to come see?" 

"See what?" 

"You saw the murder. Come and see the murderer," Jack led her out of the room, and the group gave eachother looks before returning to their various tasks.

It was the next night that it all went to hell. Most of the group had left already, Jack, Rose, and the Doctor the only ones left. Suzie had left a couple of minutes ago.

"Holy shit," They heard Jack whisper. They both came over to see what it was. They both gasped as they saw Suzie wielding the odd knife, looking like she was threatening Gwen. The group gased as they saw Suzie pull out a handgun, and point it at the other woman. Neither of them noticed Rose walking backwards. She stepped onto the platform and pressed the button to go up. It started to move up, and by the time they reached the platform, she was already too high up.

"Rose, what are you thinking!" The Doctor looked up at her, panic in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Doctor, I have to do something!" She looked down at him, her eyes begging him to forgive her. He watched her for another moment, but as she dissappeared through the top of the building, he bolted over to the door. Jack just behind him.

Rose reached the top and stood on the platform. There was a perception filter, so she wasn't to worried about what would happen. She felt her brain whirring, trying to come up with a plan.

"If I can get enough practice, then think what the glove could do. If I could get it work all the time, on anything, beyond the two minutes, if it could work permanently, it could resurrect. Resurrection on demand for the whole world, isn't that good? Isn't it, though? Well, that's what I've been working for, all day and all night. The rest of them go swanning about, but I'm working!" Rose heard Suzie say. She was sad that Suzie was doing this. She had liked her.

Suzie continued. "You've got to get inside this stuff. Surrender yourself to it. I did, with the knife and the glove, and that's why the perception filter isn't gonna work on me," She turned, and before Rose could react, she felt the bullet ripping through her chest. She felt the air leave her lungs, and she felt herself fall onto the pavement. She sat there, black clouds in the edges of her vision. It felt like she was sensing the world through a tunnel, sights and colors and blurs around her. She vaguely heard Gwen pleading before she heard someone shout her name.

"ROSE!" The Doctor saw her fall to the ground and sprinted over to her. He lifted her head, and gently cradled her. He felt himself panicking as he saw the dark red spot spreading rapidly across her blue shirt. He looked down at her and felt tears come to his eyes. "Rose, love?" She smiled up at him, and spoke quietly.

"Doctor?"

"Yes, it's me, Rosie. I'm here. Just hang on ok? I'll find a way to fix just please, hang on, Rose. Please!" He could see her drifting away from him. She leaned her head back.

"m'tired, Doctor,"

"Please Rose. Just a little bit more. Don't leave me yet," He pleaded, tears flowing freely down his face.

"Just tired," She mumbled out. Her eyes shut, and he felt her heart thump to a stop.

"No. No, you promised." He felt himself go cold, and he stared down at Rose's pale face. She looked so cold and lifeless. He hated it. He felt himself release a sob. Rose was dead. His beautiful Rose, dead. He vaguely heard another gunshot, and turned to see Suzie falling lifeless to the ground, the gun falling from her own grasp.

Rose was laid out on the hospital bed in the medical room. Suzie had already been taken care of and put in the Cryogenic chambers. The Doctor however, needed a moment. He smoothed out her blonde hair, one hand still grasping one of her limp ones. He pressed a kiss to the knuckles of that hand, which was slowly growing cold. His eyes filled with tears again, and he softly placed that hand down onto the bed beside her. He stood up and turned to go, then turned back and looked down at her once more.

Rose let out a gasp, a harsh drawing in of breath, and sat bolt upright. The Doctor jumped and backed up.

"Rose?!"

She whipped her head around to him. "Doctor?" She looked terrified, and as much as he wanted to go comfort her, she had just come back from the dead.

"JACK!" He shouted, and he heard footsteps walking quickly towards them.

"Doctor?" She asked again, panic filling her. She felt like she had been hit with a sledge hammer, which worried her, because she shouldn't be feeling anything. She should be dead. "Doctor, I died, what the hell just happened?! Did you bring me back? Is the resurrection glove here? What happened to Suzie? God she shot me! She killed me! Oh my god, I should be dead!" Rose was hyperventilating and tears streamed down her face as Jack walked in and stopped short.

"No. No, not her," He muttered under his breath before running up and grabbing Rose's hands.

"Rose? Rose look at me. Breathe. In and out, you're okay, okay? I know. It's scary. I get it," Jack wrapped her up in a big hug as she sobbed, the rest of the team slowly filing into the room. They each stopped short and stared. As Rose calmed down, she pushed away from Jack a bit.

"You okay now?" Jack looked at her, and she nodded.

"Yea. Sorry." The Doctor looked at her and walked forward to the bed. She wouldn't meet his eyes, and he felt his heart jump into his throat.

"Rose?" She looked up at him. "Couple things. First, what the _hell_ just happened. Second, Do not ever, ever, leave me again. _Ever._ And fourth... no third, what in the hell where you thinking! Going up alone to face a crazy woman who had a knife _and _a gun, and was currently threatening someone else, and had killed before! I mean-"

"Seriously?" Rose cut him off, irritated. "I just died and came back to life, and you're havin' a go at me?" He opened his mouth to respond, then promptly shut it. He looked down at his hands.

"I'm sorry. It's just... you left me." Rose slid off the bed a bit, and pulled him up out of his chair. She wrapped him in a huge hug, and he held her tightly, breathing her in. After a moment, she pulled back, giving him a kiss on the cheek and went to sit back on the bed. Jack kicked the others out, telling them to go home, and turned to the other two.

"Alright, what the hell." He paced back and forth, and the Doctor nodded. "God I thought it was just me,"

The others turned and stared at him. Rose spoke up. "So I'm like you now? Every time I die, I'll just come back?" She took a deep breath. "How did this happen,"

The Doctor turned to her. "Bad Wolf," He said qiuetly.

"Bad Wolf? But I'm Bad Wolf? Why would I do this to myself though?"

"I don't know Rose. We don't even know if that's the case." Silence fell around the three, and each of them turned to get lost in their own thoughts.

**PLOT TWIST! I hope you guys liked it, this idea was bounding around in my head forever. Please please please review! And favorite and follow, but even if you just wanna say hi, drop a review! Pleeeaaaase it makes me really happy and wanna write more when people leave me reviews! Tell me what you do and don't wanna see! I may take your advice! Thanks for reading, Darlings! Xoxo, Roxy**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Day One

**Hey guys. Writing another :) because I'm home sick so I'm just like bleh. So I am going to write more! Here is the next episode! Enjoy, ma petite no hablo french!**

Rose blew hair out of her eyes as she finished unpacking the groceries. Her and the Doctor had just finished moving into their new apartment. It was small, a third level apartment with two bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, and their own bathrooms. Rose was surprised at how well the Doctor was handling the domesticity of the situation. She had expected him to be panicking and obnoxious, but he was as calm and normal as usual.

The man himself walked into the kitchen then, poured himself some tea and hopped up onto the counter, sitting on it while drinking his tea. She smiled up at him and glanced out the window. She did a double take at what she saw, Streaking across the sky was a flaming ball. It streaked across the sky and landed just outside the city. She grabbed the Doctor as she ran by, dragging him out of their apartment.

"I'm so sorry" Gwen said again

"Seriously. Stop saying that," Gwen had gotten irritated with Owen and thrown a chisel at him. However, she had missed and released a pink gas from the meteorite.

"But I am! I mean, really. I mean really, really, sorry, god, I just can't believe it!"

"Didn't they teach you health and safety in the police?" Owen grouched.

"You two chucked tools at each other, so I-"

"We didn't miss,"

"Give her a break, Owen," Rose glared at her coworker, who rolled his eyes and turned away.

"God, this has been the worst first day ever," Gwen breathed.

"We all make mistakes. Get over it," The Doctor said with a small smile.

"Now we find and recover whatever came out of there," Jack finished for them, putting a hand on Gwen and Tosh's shoulders.

"This might help, night club death phoned into 999. Circumstances sound a bit... unusual. Might be connected." Ianto said as he entered the room, handing an adress to Jack. The group rushed out to the van, and all piled in.

About ten minutes later, they were all crammed into the room, watching the CCTV footage. They watched as a young man and woman, about Rose's age, entered the bathroom. The woman pushed the man against a wall, in the middle of a heated make-out session. Rose raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, who gave her a look right back. The scene went on and the couple in the bathroom moved on to more than just kissing. Just as the boy released a cry and climaxed, he burst into gold light, which the young woman seemed to absorb. All that was left of him was a pile of dust on the floor.

"Wow," The Doctor said, shocked.

"My God," Tosh breathed.

Gwen was dumbfounded. "He just..."

"Came and went," Jack finished with a grin. Rose groaned and slapped his arm.

"Now that's the way I'd like to go," Owen smirked.

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Tosh shot back.

They were back at the hub.

"So the alien from the meteorite is killing people by shagging them. Now what I don't get is why?" The Doctor questioned.

"I'm less worried about that, more worried about where it's going now," Jack interjected.

"So what's this supposed to do," Gwen asked, pointing to what Jack was working on.

"I'm using satellite tracking data to calculate the inward trajectory of the meteorite," Jack explained. Rose rolled her eyes.

"You sound like the Doctor,"

"Hey, a little techno-babble is good for the soul," The Doctor defended, pinching her lightly.

"So it's a route planner?" Gwen asked.

"Basically, yes."

"My boyfriend, Rhys, he's a transport manager. He does this sort of stuff. Only on a slightly smaller scale," Gwen smiled.

"You have a boyfriend?" Rose asked, smiling kindly. Gwen turned to face her.

"Yeah. Have you?" Rose blushed and shook her head. Gwen noticed the way Rose and the Doctor were determinedly looking anywhere other than eachother.

"What about you?"

"I haven't the time, with this job," Tosh smiled softly.

"And you?" Owen looked at her in disbelief.

"Are you joking?"

"I don't mean to be rude or anything. It's just... how do you all unwind you know? What do you do to relax?"

Nobody answered at first, then Owen looked up at her. "I torture people in happy relationships,"

They slammed through the door, Jack in front, carrying a gun. They saw Carys, the young girl, running in the opposite direction. Rose was in the doorway, and Carys ran straight for her.

"Rose, look out!" Rose reached out to grab Carys, but was slammed against the wall and out of the way. The Doctor took out a small triangular device and threw it down in front of the girl. A field of light shot up around her, and worked as a makeshift cell.

"What is that?" Tosh questioned, curious.

"It's a little knick-knack I picked up a while ago. Might want to hurry, you'll only get an hour. The battery life's awful." The Doctor grinned and winked at Rose, who rolled her eyes.

Once they had Carys back at the hub, Owen, Tosh, and Gwen went to go study some readings. Rose and the Doctor stayed back with Carys. Jack turned back to them.

"Doctor, with us. Rose, you go question her."

"Me? I don't know what I'm doing!"

"Usually better if you don't say that in front of the suspect," Jack smiled at her. The Doctor walked forward and turned to wish Rose luck. She nodded her thanks and then led Carys down into the holding cells. She put Carys on one side and stood on the other.

Carys looked out at Rose. "Are you MI5? Where am I? What do you want?" 

Rose looked at her sympathetically. "I think you know, Carys." 

"How do you know my name? I've never been in trouble. What do you want from me?" 

"I know there's something living inside you and I know what it made you do. His name was Matt Stevens. His parents lost their only child at three oh seven this morning."

A wave of pain hit Carys and she groaned. After a moment, she straightened and her demeanor changed. "You broke my ship."

"Come on, then. Where are you from and why are you killing people? Because it can't just be for fun." Rose speculated.

"No, I just want the energy. The climax? I live off that energy."

Rose looked at her, surprised. "Right. Sorry, just to recap. You've traveled here to feed off orgasmic energy?"

"There's nothing else out there like it. You taste so good. You're the best hit there is."

"Well, we try," Rose said, a mix of sarcasm and smugness. Suddenly Carys jerked forwards again. 

"No! Help me. Please, get it out of me," Carys begged. She doubled over again, and slammed into the wall. Rose unlocked the cell and rushed inside, putting a hand on Carys' shoulder. 

"Carys?" The girl straightened up and locked eyes with Rose. Suddenly she grabbed Rose's shirt, pulling he forward and pressing her lips to Rose's. Rose pulled back after a moment.

"Not quite what I was expecting," She managed to get out before Carys pulled her forward again. Rose wasn't quite sure what she was doing, but she responded after a moment.

Up in the main room, Owen caught a glimpse of movement in one of the monitors. He turned and was stunned by what he saw. Rose and Carys were locked in a passionate kiss. "Well. Happy Birthday, me. Oi! You lot!" He called the others over. "Treat," He gestured to the screen.

"Oh." Gwen raised an eyebrow at the scene.

Jack whistled.

"Wow," The Doctor was stunned. Rose, his best friend, and the woman he was crazy about was kissing another woman. Who was also possessed by an alien. For some reason he couldn't tear his eyes from the screen. They all watched as Carys pushed Rose back against a wall, still kissing her. She pushed the blonde's jacket off of her shoulders violently.

"We should probably get her out of there," Tosh said distractedly.

"Yea..." The Doctor responded, not quite paying attention. Suddenly he realized what was happening. "Oh bugger," He quickly bolted towards the holding cells, Jack right behind him. When they reached the holding cell however, Rose was back on the other side, looking panicked. "You okay?" The Doctor grabbed her arm. She looked up at him and nodded, shaking herself a bit.

"Yea course! Fine, why wouldn't I be?" She rambled on, and he grabbed her hand, leading her out of the room. As they entered the bigger room, they saw Owen clapping.

"Good job newbie! That is what I call a thorough investigation. Can't wait to see you 'interrogate' her again." Rose's face turned red and she looked down at her feet. Gwen on the other hand stalked up to Owen and pushed him against a wall, holding him up to it by his neck. "What're you doing? Get off me," He hissed out.

Gwen only pushed him further back into the wall. "That girl's body is being overrun, and you think this is a joke?"

"Alright, Jesus," Owen squirmed.

"We should be helping her. She's not some lab rat,"

"No, she's a murderer. You're the one who wanted to catch her so bad, how come now you and her are all best friends?" He spat out, and Gwen looked ready to punch him when Jack came in.

"You know, throttling the staff is usually my job," Gwen took a deep breath, then released him. Owen glared and straightened his shirt.

"So," Ianto cut across the silence. "Who wants Chinese?"

"I think you guys should come see this," Tosh called from the other room.

Rose, Jack, Gwen, and the Doctor hurried over to Tosh. "This," she gestured to one figure, "is the normal air composition of that cell. And this," she pointed to another figure, "is what it is now. The alien's releasing pheromones. Sex pheromones. A thousand times more potent than anything we're used to," Tosh explained.

"Oh! That explains why I-" She cut herself off before continuing. "Actually I sorta snogged her,"

"We know," Jack and the Doctor said in unison. Rose turned red and faced the computer again. She was pretty embarrassed about that. She had thought maybe it was just cuz she hadn't snogged anyone in a _long_ time. The last person she had kissed was her first doctor, almost a year ago. She shook herself out of these thougths as she realized something. "Guys... Owen's down there now." Jack was the first one out of the room, and saw Carys running towards the exit. He chased after her, catching up to her just before the entrance. She looked around and found a golden key hanging off of a hook. She grabbed it, thinking maybe she could bargain her way out. She was right.

"No!" Jack shouted as she grabbed it. His demeanor changed suddenly, and he held his hands out in front of him, like he was dealing with an angry lion. She held the key out enticingly.

"Just let me go. OPEN THE DOOR." She ordered him, and he gestured to Ianto. She turned tail and fled when it opened, throwing the key over towards the center of the room. Jack ran to go get it, and as the rest of the team ran in, they just saw him pick up the shiny key.

"What the hell Jack? You just let her go?" Gwen glared at him. Rose and the Doctor looked at him in understanding. They both saw the key and recognized it immediately. It was a key to their absent home.

Jack stood up, ignoring his team's confused faces. He hung the key back up and turned back, going up to the computers.

"Alright, so Carys is on the loose, we need to find her. If you were a being taken over by a sex crazed alien, and you needed to get sex from somewhere, but it would kill them, what would you do?"

Tosh spoke up. "Well I know what I would do," At the team's confused looks, she continued, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I'd go to an ex's,"

They burst into the bedroom of Eddie, Carys on and off boyfriend, and found a pile of dust on the bed. Jack lowered his pistol and let out a breath.

"We're too late," Gwen said, frustration creeping into her voice.

"You were right," Rose directed at Tosh. "Went for the ex boyfriend. Can't say I blame her, I would go straight to-" She cut herself off, and the Doctor looked down at her, his eyebrow furrowing. Rose avoided his look, and to her relief Jack cut in.

"We're lucky she's young. Work your way through my back catalog, we'll be here till the sun explodes," Jack joked, grinning at his team. Tosh and the Doctor rolled their eyes at his jokes.

They all piled back into the van, and began to drive.

"So what's our next move?" The Doctor spoke up.

"Stop the entire city of cardiff from shagging?" Owen joked.

"Put Bromine in the water supply," Gwen suggested.

Jack shook his head. "Too hit and miss,"

"Plus the water supply company got really pissed off last time we did that," Owen snarked.

"It could have used anybody in Cardiff, why her? There's got to be something. What's her job?" Rose mused. The Doctor grinned down at her proudly.

"I can pull up her employment records," Tosh offered, already typing. A screen popped up, and she read off the name listed there. "There! Conway Clinic,"

Owen groaned. "Crap. It's a bloody fertility clinic! Sperm Donors. An unlimited supply of orgasmic energy without all the build up," Jack pressed down harder on the pedal.

They were nearly there when Jack passed Gwen a gun.

"What's this for?"

"You need a diagram?"

"I've never used a gun,"

"You were on the police!" Jack looked disbelieving.

"I was on the beat!"

"Just carry it. Rose, you take one too. Doc I know you don't like guns. I'm not letting her go in there unarmed." He met the Doctor's eyes in the rear view mirror, and gave him a look that said he would not be moved. He saw Rose pick up a gun, looking unsure. He would have to teach her later. He had already lost her once, he wasn't goig to lose her again because of the Doctor's aversion to firearms, no matter how understandable.

"What do we do when we find her?" Gwen asked.

"Judging by the test results, the gas needed a host because prolonged exposure to our atmosphere is poisonous to it," Tosh explained. "but our bodies are the perfect environment."

"So if we isolate it from Carys' body,"

"It won't survive long," Owen finished for Jack.

"Force it to die," The Doctor said, objecting to the plan.

"Just like it did those poor blokes," Owen met his eye, and the Doctor met his gaze, then looked away after a few moments, saying nothing.

"What about Carys?" Gwen asked.

Owen looked over at her. "Better start praying we get to her in time."

They arrived outside of the clinic and got everyone out of the waiting room. They each began kicking in doors.

"Oh my god," Rose whispered as she and the Doctor found a pile of dust in the first room. They kicked open a second and found another pile. They heard similar things from the rest of the team.

"In here," They heard Owen shout. They saw her run out of the room and cornered her in the waiting room, all ready to grab her at the slightest sign she would run.

Carys looked like a wild animal who had been shoved into a cage. All this sex. "All we see, all we think. So much beauty and so much fear. We want it but we're so afraid of it," She doubled over in pain again, looking up at Gwen, begging her with her eyes. "One more and I'll be strong. Each time, it works less. Each time, the feeling's weaker. One more. Make me feel alive. Make me feel human."

"I can't," Gwen said, almost apologetically. Jack stepped forward.

"I can." The team gave him looks. He grinned at them. "I've got a surplus of alive. I'm giving it away. You really wanna feel something?" He grabbed Carys and kissed her. Her skin began to glow a faint gold, and he released her, grinning cockily. "And that was just a kiss, imagine what you get from the rest," Carys looked at him a moment, then passed out in his arms. His smile faded a bit. "Not quite the reaction I anticipated," He admitted bemusedly. Owen looked worried.

"I don't know how much longer she'll last,"

Rose stepped forward, looking determined. "Use me. Leave her body, and use me as host. Just let her live," The Doctor grabbed her arm.

"Rose, what the _hell_ are you doing?"

"I can't die Doctor. At the very least, I can use that to do some good." Rose met his eyes squarely, and he backed down a bit.

"Fine." He took a step back again.

"C'mon then! Leave her!" Rose urged. The pink gas left Carys and floated through the air towards Rose. Rose saw this and closed her eyes, bracing herself. She heard something clatter to the floor though, and the gas never came. She opened her eyes and saw the gas contained in the inflatable cell they had used earlier. She grinned, relieved, and looked over at the Doctor, who grinned back for a moment before turning to Tosh.

"How long can it survive in there?"

"It was pretty weak, why?"

He grimaced. "Bit worried about how long that battery will last for," But a few moments after he spoke though, the gas appeared to be dissapearing.

"Look, it's dying," As it disappeared competely it shriveled into a pile of pink dust and fell to the floor, just before the force field powered off. Jack picked up a handful of the dust and let it fall through his fingers.

"Travel halfway across the universe for the greatest sex, you still end up dying alone." He picked up the small triangle off the floor and tossed it to the Doctor, who caught it nimbly.

Rose turned to him as he stowed it away in his pocket, and stood up on her tiptoes. She pressed her lips lightly to his cheek, then pulled back to look into his eyes. "Thank you," She said, and he smiled at her softly, face turned bright red from the kiss.

They took Carys home, and watched as she gave a tearful hug to her father, who had been told the whole situation. They each smiled and after finishing things up at the hub, they each went their separate ways. As they reached their apartment, the Doctor sat down on the coach, and Rose collapsed next to him. "How do you still have energy? I'm knackered!" she asked him, shaking her head. "And don't you dare say superior biology!" He shrugged and she threw a pillow at him, chuckling. "What a mad day. I mean aliens possessing people, then shagging people to death? Ever seen that one before?" She grinned at him, her tongue poking out between her teeth in his favorite smile. He shook his head.

"Cannot say that I have. Well, you see something new every day, eh?" Rose nodded and yawned. "Alright, you're exhausted. Off to bed with the human, can't have you tired on the job tomorrow!" He said, a teasing lilt in her voice and she groaned but stood up. He followed her down the hallway, planning on catching a small nap himself, and as Rose opened the door to her room, she stopped and caught him by surprise, wrapping him in a hug. He returned the hug gladly.

"Thank you, again. You saved me," She looked up at him, and he smiled softly.

"Always, my Rose." He held her for another moment before she pulled back and closed the door. He continued on to his room, a small, satisfied smile on his face.

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed! I am LOVING writing this story, but seriously though, please review, because if there is something you guys liked or didn't like, let me know! I am getting a little sad cuz I can't read any reviews from you guys! Xoxo, Roxy**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Ghost Machine

**So this got really long, so I split it into two parts. It does get a little dark, so don't say I didn't warn ya!**

Rose, the Doctor, and Gwen pounded down the pavement, sprinting after a young boy in hoodie. The boy turned a corner, and the Doctor, since he had the sharpest reflexes, easily followed, gaining a bit. Gwen and Rose fell a bit behind, having to slow down for the turn. The Doctor was gaining on the young boy, and almost caught him before he ducked under a lowering security gate. He quickly followed, but Rose and Gwen didn't get there in time, and the gate clicked shut. They groaned and slowed down, taking deep breaths, attempting to slow their racing hearts. They turned and began jogging back the other way, attempting to find another entrance.

On the other side of the gate, the Doctor was inches away. "Oi!" He shouted, and just grabbed the boys hoodie. He was caught unawares when the boy slid out of the jacket and kept running, and the Doctor groaned, disappointed. He had been so close! He heard Tosh sounding joyful over his coms.

"You star, you did it!"

"I almost had him," The Doctor told Tosh over the coms, frustration edging his voice.

"No, you got it," Tosh said, sounding perplexed.

"I missed him, Tosh," The Doctor repeated.

"I swear, whatever it is, you're holding it. Let me check the cameras,"

The Doctor searched through the pockets of the hoodie, and found a small device. It was curved and had a handle, with blinking lights at the top. It had a round button at the top, and the Doctor's curiosity got the best of him. "Great big threatening button?" He muttered to himself, and pressed the button down. Immediately the world around him seemed to get diminished. Everything looked a little foggy, and much more old fashioned. He saw a young boy walk out of the train station. He appeared to be wearing an olden time school uniform, the kind you would see around the second world war. He had a ragged looking teddy bear by one leg, and a suitcase in the other hand. There was a luggage tag attached to his blazer, which read Tom Erasmus Flanagan.

"Hello?" The Doctor called out to the boy. "Who are you?" The boy still gave no response, or sign he even saw the doctor. "Can you... Can you hear me?"

"I want to go home. No one knows who I am here." The young boy looked down at the ground. "I'm lost." He turned and walked back into the train station he had just left.

"Wait, come back. Hey, wait! I can help, just wait!" The Doctor kept yelling, until this vision faded, and the modern buildings and bright street lights came back into view. The Doctor was stunned. Rose and Gwen came running up to him.

"Sorry, that damn gate got in the way!" Gwen said, out of breath.

Rose took a step forward and studied the Doctor's shaken expression. It wasn't one she often saw. "You alright? Doctor?" He snapped back to reality, looking at her. "You alright?" She repeated.

"I... I think I just saw a ghost,"

"This is the feed from the station camera. Gwen grabs the kid. She's got his jacket, and he just slips out," Tosh narrated the CCTV footage. 

"And then?" The Doctor prompted her. 

"Rose and Gwen arrive. And then nothing. Sorry." 

The Doctor shook his head slowly. "No. It, it was as real as this is. More real. I didn't just see that little boy. I could hear what he was thinking. I could feel it. Like I was lost."

"Intense emotion can be part of a neurological event. Hallucinations, dementia," Owen suggested.

The Doctor shot him and irritable look. "I wasn't hallucinating, Owen. And I'm not bloody senile, thanks," He grumbled.

"Old enough to be," Rose muttered, and he sent her a mock glare. She returned with a cheeky grin. The rest of the group stared, confused. They knew the Doctor was an alien, of course, but they had just assumed he was the age he appeared to be. Tosh was the first to speak up.

"How.. how old _are_ you?" He looked around at her.

"903, give or take a bit. Lost track after a bit," He told them so nonchalantly, as if this were everyday news. They gaped at him for a moment before Jack pulled them back to the situation at hand.

"So you just pressed this little button on top, and that caused the apparition moment?" He said holding up the device.

The Doctor nodded, and Jack placed his thumb over the button.

"Jack!"

"Jack, don't!"

He looked slightly offended at the outbursts of his team. "As if!"

"But that's what it was like, and apparition. Or a ghost," He trailed off, eyebrows crinkled, and Rose took his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Toshiko? Where do we start?" Jack looked over to her, and she started to type on her computer.

"With the guy you were chasing. I've got lots of CCTV, so tracking him down is going to be easy. They little boy, what was his name again?" She asked the Doctor.

"Tom Erasmus Flanagan,"

"Unusual name," Jack commented. "That'll help. Run a full check. Births, marriages, deaths, criminal records, passports, everything. We'll find him."

"Found him! Flanagan, Thomas Erasmus. 74 Brynaeron Terrace, Butetown. He's in the phone book," Owen grinned cheekily and threw the phone book back on the table with a loud thump.

A couple hours later, he and Rose stood outside the door of the Flanagans, waiting for it to open. Rose grinned and chuckled under breath.

"What?"

"Nothing," She replied. "Just thinking of when we were at the coronation. Hope I don't lose my face this time," She grinned up at him, but after a moment, it dropped a bit. "I miss her Doctor."

He knew exactly what she was talking about. "Me too. But hey, on the bright side, you have me, right?" He grinned at her cheekily, and she smacked his arm. "You are very abusive you know?" As she opened her mouth to reply, the door opened, and a brown-haired woman stood in the doorway.

"Hello! I'm the DI Smith, and this is DI Tyler. Could you spare a few minutes?" He smiled charmingly at the woman, who nodded. 

"Yeah, okay." She let them enter, and the Doctor looked around, still looking cheery. They woman led them into the living room, where there sat an elderly man with silvery gray hair.

"Dad, visitors. It's the police." The man looked over, and a warm smile broke out on his face. 

"Oh. Caught up with me at last, have you?" Rose and the Doctor chuckled. Rose immediately felt comfortable around him, he had a kind feeling that he seemed to radiate. 

"I'm John, this is Rose. It's just routine, we're looking for eye witnesses to an incident at the railway station last night," 

The daughter cut in. "We were here, weren't we, Dad? Watching the Dancing finals on TV."

"Oh, I haven't watched those shows in years!" Rose exclaimed, thinking about it. Since she met the Doctor, she had lost track of all the shows she used to love to watch. She still hadn't caught up, their new jobs had kept them so busy. 

"Would you like a cup of tea?" Tom offered. 

"Love one. Rose can give you a hand," He suggested, looking up at her for confirmation. She smiled kindly and turned to the daughter. 

"Oh, this way," She led Rose into the kitchen, and the Doctor had a seat in a chair across from Tom.

"She'll talk her to death out there. Eleri loves to talk," Tom said, and the Doctor could see the love in his eyes when he spoke of his daughter. 

"She'll give as good as he gets, Rose was never a quiet one." He joked. 

"She was right, though. We were in all last night. We wouldn't have seen anything." Tom continued apologetically. 

"We didn't think so anyway. Just for the record, you are Tom Erasmus Flanagan?" 

"My father was an Erasmus, his father before him." There was pride in his voice, and the Doctor decided to try a different tactic to get a bit of information out of him. 

"Now, that's not a local accent, is it?" 

"No. Lived here sixty six years and still sound like a barrow boy. I was evacuated during the war. 1941. The Germans bombing the hell out of the East End." The Doctor smiled, remembering a certain blonde in a union jack, and gas mask zombies calling for their mummies, back when he was still a leather-clad, big nosed northerner. 

"Cardiff was being bombed as well as London, wasn't it though?" 

"We were taken to the countryside from here. My mother packed me a suitcase, big sister wrote my name on a card. They put me on a train at Paddington. Kept saying I had to go, had to be a good boy. Telling me not to cry, and the pair of them were crying their eyes out. That was the last I saw of them, though I didn't know that then of course, waving goodbye." He got a far-away look in his eyes, obviously remembering the past. 

"How old were you?" 

"Eight." 

"You must have been scared." The Doctor said, understanding. He was already at the academy when he was eight. It was quite terrifying for a time tot. 

"I didn't know a soul here. And there was a mix-up. I'd kept my head down so much they forgot all about me, so they left me all on my own. Felt like the end of the world. I wandered down this tunnel, totally lost, forgotten, looking for someone, anyone, who'd look after me. Why don't they come for me, I kept thinking. No one knows me. I'm lost. They worked it out in the end. They came back for me, and I got taken in by a lovely couple, no kids of their own. And well, at the end of the war, I had no one left in London, so I stayed here. I'm still here now." He finished with pride, and the Doctor smiled at him warmly. After a little more conversation and tea, he stood. The two bid them farewell, and said their thanks before stepping outside. They got into the car, Rose driving, since she didn't trust the Doctor's driving abilities after last time.

"I don't get it," The Doctor said as they were pulling away. "And it's not often I say that. He was the little boy I saw. I've never seen this technology before,"

Rose smiled at him as they drove onto the highway. "Well why don't you and Jack take a look at it back at the hub?" He smiled and nodded. They chatted the rest of the way to their base, and as they walked in, they were bickering about laundry.

"All I'm saying is, you turned a perfectly fine white shirt pink, because you were to full of yourself to ask me for help!" He rolled his eyes at her and snatched the mystery device out of Jack's hands, plopping down at a work bench and getting to work studying it intently. Jack told them the new developments on the case.

"Our friend with the alien machine in his pocket is one Sean Harris aka Bernie."

Gwen continued for him. "And what he's doing with an alien machine is anyone's guess. Nineteen years old. String of convictions. Burglary, shoplifting, credit cards," She plopped the file down in front of Rose, and she flipped it open, leaning on the table with one arm. 

"Do warn me if he's dropping in," Ianto added sarcastically as he walked in with a tray of coffee. Rose smiled at him gratefully as she snatched a cup as he passed. 

"The theft conviction. he was stealing tires off a car when the owner turns up, gives him so much grief, he apologizes. Starts putting them back on again, which is when the police show up. And here. Shoplifting conviction. Bottle of vodka and three Pot Noodles." Tosh explained, and Rose snorted.

"A criminal mastermind," Owen put in, then cursing when he died in his shoot-em-up game he was playing on one of the computers.

"Gettin' anywhere Doctor?" Rose turned to her best friend.

He looked up, and Rose had to hide a smile. He was wearing his 'sexy specs' as Rose liked to call them. "Alien of Course. Genious nanotechnology, makes our friends in UNIT look like kids with water guns," He replied, still occupied with the piece of technology in front of him.

"Well you've really narrowed it down, haven't ya?" Owen said sarcastically, grinning.

"Back up the station, it lit up. Went all mad." The Doctor was still studying it intently for a moment then put it down and slid off his specs, to Rose's disappointment. "So, what next?"

"This kid, Bernie, where does he live?" Jack asked Tosh.

"Splott."

"Splott?" Owen repeated, surprised at the name.

"I believe the estate agents pronounce it _sploe_," Ianto put in.

"Yea, it's said like that, but everyone just calls it Splott." At the other's looks, she elaborated. "I lived there for a year. We hated it, moved back to London as soon as we had the money," Rose explained.

As they reached Splott, Rose directed Tosh to the right building, and she knocked on the door of the address they had. A woman smoking a cigarette opened the door.

"Hi," Tosh greeted. "I'm looking for Bernie. Is he in?"

"Friend of his are ya?" The rough looking woman asked.

"Yes, I'm from-"

"Well, I'm his mother, and he's a robbing little bastard who's not setting foot in this house until he pays the fifty quid he owes me," The woman slammed the door in Tosh's face and she walked back to the group, shocked.

The same thing happened at a bar. When they asked a rugby player about Bernie, he simply said he was barred and walked away. They got this reaction from 5 more people before they gave up, and sat down sulkily in a park. Rose seemed uneasy, but didn't say anything. The doctor watched her carefully, but decided maybe she just felt weird being back in Splott.

"Bernie Harris. The scarlet pimpernel of Splott," Tosh sighed.

"Tell me about it." Gwen agreed.

"Give me aliens any day. Any luck?" She asked Owen as he approached and plopped down.

"No. But I got four pasties for a pound. Anyone?" Tosh took one, and Gwen too.

"If I wanted days like this, I would have stayed in the police," Gwen moaned.

"We did try, Jack," The Doctor told him. He still felt a bit weird with Jack as his boss.

"Guess we'll have to go down to the station and test the thing again. Try and recreate events," He stood up and brushed himself off.

"What, I have to do that again?" The Doctor looked surprised.

"Well, someone has to,"

"But we don't know what it is, what it does!"

"Yup."

"Jack, it could be dangerous," Tosh defended the Doctor.

"Yeah," He agreed again.

"Yea, I don't mean to be picky, but I can see some holes in this plan," Owen put in his thoughts, and Jack turned back, clearly annoyed.

"I'm sorry I thought you were the guys who gave up looking for a nineteen year old today. I just thought maybe you wanted something more interesting, bit of a challenge," he shot at them. The group got up and followed after him. Jack tossed the device to Owen, who then spoke.

"This door-to-door stuff never gets us anywhere," He complained. As he followed, the device in his hands started to come alive. He called at the group to stop, but they just called for him to hurry up. He looked at the device for a moment then pushed down on the button.

The world around him faded, and he stood for a moment. It was just like the doctor had descrined his experience, but not the same area. He was looking at the park from maybe four or five years ago, the benches were newer, the trees smaller, the tunnel a few feet away a little less stained. He heard someone coming through the tunnel clumsily. He turned and saw a young blonde girl stumbling through towards him. She was wiping away tears, and looked oddly familiar.

"Hello? You okay?" He shouted over to her, but she didn't answer. She looked up though, and he got a good look at her face, and gasped. It was Rose. It was a young version of Rose, and she looked scared. He saw her walk a few more steps forward, then heard a voice floating towards her.

"Rooose!" The voice called, he saw Rose turn and take a deep shaky breath. She turned back and started to run further through the tunnel. She yelped as a blonde boy grabbed her arm and slammed her against the side of the tunnel. The boy looked like a rock star wannabe, and Rose flinched away from him. Owen gasped. He could feel her fear. He could smell the alcohol wafting off his breath, and the terror made him want to puke.

"Let me go. I said we're over, Jimmy Stones. Now let me go! Jimmy, I told mum I'd be home by ten! Get off!" Rose tried to push him off, but the boy pulled out a small object, flicking it open to reveal a blade.

"Now now Rose, I don't think you're goin' anywhere. I ain't finished with you." He pressed the blade against her neck, and her breath quickened. She shouted out to a man who was walking by.

"Mr. Morgan! Mr. Morgan please!" The man stopped, but did nothing. After a moment he kept walking, seeming not to notice.

"Oh god," Rose breathed. "God, okay. I'll do whatever you want, just don't-" Rose cut off, unable to say any more. Jimmy grinned an evil grin and flicked his blade shut.

"Now that's better. Take off your jacket Rose." The tears were streaming down Rose's face now, but she obeyed.

"God, oh god," Owen heard her crying and pleading as the scene faded. He came back to reality and saw the same girl, now in her early twenties looking right at him. He must have looked strange, because Gwen walked back to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Owen?"

He just stared at Rose. "You let him do that to you?"

She looked startled. "What?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Jimmy. Jimmy Stones." Rose's face turned pale, and she swallowed. She looked terrified, like she would run any minute. The Doctor grabbed her hand.

"Rose? Who's Jimmy Stones?"

"Oh god," Rose said as realization dawned on her. Horror filled her eyes as she wondered how much Owen had seen. She turned her eyes to the ground, wanting to run as fast as she could from the questioning looks of her friends, and the piercing gaze of Owen. She had never told anyone that story. Nobody knew, not even her mom. She hadn't even told Jackie why she had begged to move back to the Powell estates, back to London. She backed away a few steps, but her hand was still caught in the Doctor's who was looking at her concerned. She felt her eyes well up, and felt one slip down her face.

"Alright, everyone in the van. Now." He fixed Owen and Rose each with a look. "We _will_ be talking about this back at the Hub."

** Woah okay plot twist. That kinda just happened! The second part is up, so keep reading! This got really long.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Ghost Machine part II

**So here's the second half!**

Half an hour later, they were sitting in the kitchen of the Hub, Rose curled up in a ball, thanking the Doctor as he handed her a cup of her favorite tea. He took a seat next to her, and waited with the rest of the group for her and Owen to explain. He still look shaken, but was now adopting more of a furious look. The Doctor was almost scared to hear this. What had happened, and who was Jimmy Stones? And why hadn't Rose told him about it?

"I was 16," Rose finally started. "It was when I was living in Splott. I was datin' this guy, Jimmy Stones. Everyone told me he was bad news, but I didn't listen. I went with him for a few months, then I realized what he was really like. He hit me once and I dumped him and stormed home. It was late by then, and it was dark. I was cuttin' through the park, and I was upset. I was cryin', and he came after me. He... he pinned me to the wall, and I couldn't get away, I couldn't..." She made a small choking noise, and took a few breaths. The Doctor felt a sinking feeling. He was praying that he was wrong. He grabbed one of Rose's hands, but she didn't look up, she just continued staring at her tea. "I tried to push him off but, he had a knife, and I just-" Rose couldn't continue, and hid her face in her knees, dropping her tea onto the table, and wrapping her arms around herself. The Doctor pulled her to him, and held her. She calmed down a bit, but still wouldn't look at him.

"Rose? Please look at me?" She reluctantly lifted her head. She didn't want to see the pity there. As she met his eyes, however, she didn't see any pity. She saw concern, and love. She swallowed. "Did he..." The Doctor trailed off, unable to say it. Rose simply looked down, and the Doctor felt anger boiling over in his stomach.

Jack slammed down his mug, and pushed away from the table. "Why didn't you ever tell me this, Rose? He asked, horrified at his own ignorance.

She looked up at him. "I never told anyone. Mum doesn't even know."

Owen looked even more furious at this. "He never got caught?"

The Doctor looked ready to punch through a wall, and Jack could sense this wasn't going anywhere good. He quickly turned to the Doctor. "Doc, take her home. Make sure she sleeps. Take care of her." He nodded and led Rose out of the room. As they heard them leave the Hub, Tosh spoke.

"I had no idea."

"Me neither," Gwen agreed. "She's always happy,"

"The most damaged people are sometimes the happiest." Jack said solemnly. "What about this?" He said, gesturing to the device on the table. "The first time, it happens to the Doctor, a boy at the railway station."

"Who's now in his seventies, alive and well and living in Butetown. The second time it happens to Owen. Like the Doctor, you didn't just see it, you felt emotions that weren't yours." Gwen continued.

"She was terrified, more than I've ever seen anyone." Owen said, still obviously shaken.

"She was sixteen at the time," Jack told them.

"I have no record of it. She really never told anyone," Tosh said, in shock.

"What's the connection?" Gwen wondered, looking at the strange device. "It's like being haunted,"

"Quantum Transducer!" Jack suddenly burst out. "Look!" He pointed out a piece on the object, as if that made everything clear. Tosh however seemed to understand, and her jaw dropped.

"I'd kill to get one of those! Transducers convert one form of energy into another. They're in headphones, they convert electrical signals into sound," Tosh explained. "And they're in this device too, converting quantum energy and amplifying it!"

"Into ghosts." Gwen said, sounding doubtful.

"Of course. It's emotion. Human emotion is energy. You can't always see it, or hear it, but you can feel it. Ever had deja vu? Felt someone walk over your grave? Ever felt someone behind you in an empty room? Well, there was. There always is." 

"A ghost." Gwen repeated, looking skeptical.

Owen suddenly turned to Tosh. "What else have we got on Jimmy Stones? What else have we got?"

"Uh," Tosh looked taken aback. "What do you want?"

"School records, Criminal records, anything! What about Ed Morgan?" He shouted, frustrated.

"Owen, that's enough," Jack ordered sternly.

"Why is this not a bigger deal!" Owen glared at his boss. "Rose is our friend, and you're acting like this is not a big deal!"

"Of course it's a big deal!" Jack shouted back. "Rose is like my little sister. Yes it's a big deal. It was also 6 years ago. Rose didn't tell us for a reason, and you will NOT force her to relive that. Are. We. Clear." He stared Owen down until the younger man sighed and looked away. "Good. Now go home. All of you. I'll see you all back here in the morning."

Most of the group was already there when Rose and the Doctor walked in. Owen was still missing. Tosh looked up as they walked in. She caught Rose's eye and gave her a warm smile. "Morning you two," She greeted, and Rose gave a slow smile to her. Rose could feel a weight lift. She had been terrified they would treat her differently now. She could kiss Tosh for still treating her like she had yesterday. Rose smiled at the Doctor, who gave her hand a squeeze, and walked over to her station, where she started typing.

Jack came out of his office just then, and looked around. "Gwen, Rose, with me," They both hopped up from their stations and followed him into a room on a lower level. Rose realized where they were when she saw the targets in various places in the room. Jack picked up two guns and handed one to each of them. "Alright, girls. Listen up."

They each practiced shooting with one gun, two guns, and multiple targets. Both were quite good by the end, and they walked out of the shooting range chattering away with each other.

As they were walking out, they got a call from Owen.

"Owen found Bernie," Jack explained as he hung up. They all piled into the SUV, and Jack took the wheel. They arrived outside of a dingy bar.

"Cozy place. I hope he bought you flowers," The Doctor grinned at Owen who just rolled his eyes.

"If this is about the dodgy fags, I don't know what happened to 'em, all right?" Jack set the device down on the table, and Bernie looked down at the table.

"Well. It's worth knowing we're probably the only people you can tell." 

"Me and a mate was using this lock up down on Moira Street. Used to belong to this old guy. Soft in the head, he was. Still loads of his stuff in there but we chucked most of it. There was this old biscuit tin full of foreign coins, weird bits of rock, and that. Thought it might be worth something. We might take it down the Antiques Roadshow or something." 

"Yeah, alright." Owen snorted. 

"Well, you don't know, do you. Cash In The Attic and all that. So I takes the tin home with me and that thing starts switching itself on. It makes you see things. Real things. Real people. I was down the Old Wharf in the bay. I seen this woman, with a bundle, something wrapped up. It was night time, and she was putting it into the water all secret like. It was weird cos it was like I was her, somehow. She was scared, because she knew what she was doing was wrong. I knew, without seeing, it was her baby wrapped up, dead. She hadn't told anyone. Then she just ran away. And I realised, I knew her. She's old now, but she lives up by the Catholic Church in Splott. So I goes up to see her, told her what I'd seen, and she give me money not to tell anyone else." Bernie looked up at their disgusted faces.

"You blackmailed her," Rose said, looking annoyed.

"She offered. Look, I've seen things you wouldn't believe. There's the old bridge on Penfro Street. I saw a guy and a girl from years ago. He was following her home in the park-" 

"Yea, we know, thanks," The Doctor interrupted, glancing at Rose as she looked at her hands. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders and she looked up at him. She was surprised at how calm he was about this. He was being wonderful. He was her rock right now.

"He doesn't know anything, does he?" Owen was getting irritated.

"Bernie, it's been fascinating meeting you." Jack said as the rest of the group stood up, walking away. 

"Hang on, where you going? That's mine, that it. You can't walk off. I've got rights. So you don't want the other half, then?" This stopped the group in the tracks.

"The other half," Jack said, examining the identical other half before handing it over to Tosh.

"Weird bits of rock. Foreign money." Gwen pointed at the strange objects, remembering Bernie's earlier words.

"Alien rock. Alien money. Driftwood, washing in through the Rift. So, Bernie, was this thing in two halves when you found it?" The Doctor asked him.

"I've got it! Like clicking Legos together," She handed the whole thing over to Gwen, who examined it then looked up at Bernie.

"You split this into two pieces, didn't you?" 

"Come on, you lot." Owen said before Bernie could answer. Gwen handed the machine to Rose.

Tosh picked up the bin of alien rocks and money. "We'll take these too, if you don't mind."

"Come on, you lot!" Owen called from the hall, getting impatient. Everyone started to file out.

"Aren't you gonna arrest me?" Bernie asked, confused.

"Well don't sound so disappointed," the Doctor muttered. 

"No. We're not the police." Jack said. 

"But I robbed that," 

"I know."

"And you're going to rob it back off me?"

"So call the cops," Jack said, turning and leaving. The others followed him. As Rose was about to leave, Bernie spoke. 

"Don't go! I only used it once. That half, anyway. I couldn't use it again."

Rose stopped. "Why not?"

"I'm going to die. I've seen it happen, out there on the road. I'm just lying there, bleeding, and then I die. Just like I am now. Not old." Bernie looked at Rose, and she saw the fear there.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Rose!" Jack yelled from outside.

"I'm gonna be twenty in July. Do I die before then?" Bernie sounded panicked.

"Rose!" She heard the Doctor call from outside. 

"Just wait there. I'll be back." She ran outside.

"Jack! Doctor! I need to talk to you..." The thing in Rose's hands lit up again, and looking down at it, she could feel the temptation overwhelm her.

"Rose, no!" She heard the Doctor yell as she pressed the buttons down.

It was dark out. She saw Gwen holding a knife, blood covering her hands.

"Hello? Gwen?" Rose was getting scared.

Gwen turned to face her. "Help me. I couldn't stop him. I was too late,"

"He's dead. Owen had the knife. He wanted to kill him," Gwen continued talking, not hearing Rose.

"Owen?" Rose didn't want to see this anymore.

"Oh god, I couldn't stop him! Help me,"

The vision faded away, and Rose stepped back as the Doctor ran up to her, grabbing the thing from her.

"Rassilon, what were you thinking, Rose!" He grabbed her shoulder, and she looked up at him, trying to comprehend what she had just seen.

"I didn't see him. I didn't see anyone but Gwen. She just said his name."

Jack nodded. "Owen. Bernie said he saw himself dead in that street. You saw Owen with the knife."

"But I was holding it. My hands were covered in blood," Gwen's brow crinkled in worry.

"That was one future, one of many possible futures. Whatever you saw, what Bernie saw, might not happen." He laid a hand on each of their shoulders in comfort.

"Might not? Can't we find out? You've got all this stuff. Alien stuff. Isn't there anything that can help?" Gwen was starting to sound desperate.

Jack just shook his head. "I'm sorry."

Gwen sighed. "I wish we'd never found it. Poor Bernie, seeing himself dead."

"He might not be," the Doctor reasoned.

"Possible futures. He might like to know that," Rose said.

"You're certainly finding it a comfort."

Rose looked up at the Doctor, lost. "I don't know what to do." He gathered her up in a hug, and she rested her head on his shoulder. He felt a fluttering in his stomach as she pressed a kiss to his neck. She sat back down to finish her tea, and the Doctor smiled at her.

He walked out into the main room, and joined Tosh and Owen at the computers.

"I found Ed Morgan earlier. I did a trace," Tosh told them both.

Owen nodded. "I found him too. Phone book. it took all night, but I found him. Paid him a visit this morning, put the fear of God into him. What did you find?" 

Tosh sighed. "His medical records. He's claustrophobic, paranoid, depressive, got a couple of recorded attempts of suicide. He's barely left his house in years. Look Owen, if Jack finds out-"

"Well, he won't, will he," Owen gave her a look. The Doctor looked at Owen.

"As much as you annoy me, Owen, thank you." Owen looked up at him, surprised. "If I didn't know Rose would kill me in my sleep if I did anything, I would have already hunted Jimmy Stones," He spat out the name like it tasted disgusting, "ages ago."

Gwen had left to go see Bernie, when Jack figured it out. Bernie was blackmailing Ed Morgan. Tosh was back at the Hub, and she spotted Morgan on the CCTV.

"Jack, I've got Ed Morgan on the CCTV. He's on Evelyn Street."

"That's Bernie's Street," Jack stepped down on the gas, and the SUV sped faster. The group pulled up and saw Ed Morgan in front of Bernie, Gwen standing off to the side, trying to get a control on the situation. Rose got a determined look in her eye, and approached Ed. Recognition sparked in his eyes.

"I knew you'd find me in the end. I knew you'd come for me. I've been waiting for years. Have you come for me, too?" He was clutching at the knife like a lifeline. Rose approached him slowly, and the Doctor wanted nothing more than to grab her back to him, but he was scared of spooking Ed.

"I used to see it in people's faces when they looked at me. They knew. I tried to hide, but they knew. I haven't been outside for so long,"

"Edwin," Rose soothed.

"Little bitch. You're all the same. You'll blame me, make me the bad one." Rose held her hands out in front of her.

"Edwin, put the knife down."

"I've wasted my life for you."

"I won't tell anyone. No one else is gonna know," Rose said calmingly.

"I won't breathe a word. You'll never see me again. I promise," Bernie sounded frantic, trying to stay calm though. Jack and Owen approached the older man from behind.

"I know. That's why I came. It's what you want, isn't it?" Jack and Owen grabbed Ed, forcing the knife out of his hands. Gwen ran forward, pushing Bernie out of the way.

"Everyone ok?" Jack yelled, holding Ed back. Every one nodded.

Owen was looking down at his hand. "I've got the knife. I've got it." He bounced the knife in his hand a bit, feeling it's weight. "I've got the knife. I've got the knife, Edwin. You were so close. You could have done something. I've got the knife, Edwin. You were so close. As close as I am now," Owen looked murderous, and Rose felt her heart stop. _Owen had the knife. He wanted to kill him._ She remembered what she had seen. 

"Why should you get away with it?" Owen questioned Ed.

"Owen." Jack warned.

"You saw what was happening. You knew. You saw the knife. You knew what would happen when you kept walking."

"Owen!"

"What if I didn't stop? Would I be sorry?" 

"Owen, no!" Rose shouted. "Just stop!" Owen glanced at her, and then stopped. He took a deep breath and handed the knife to Gwen.

Jack was furious. "Go and deal with Bernie," He said coldly.

Gwen felt relief flood her. "It didn't happen! No one died! You stopped it from happening. You got here in time,"

"I knew you'd come for me!" Ed shouted, running towards her. She tried to back away, but he reached for her, his own knife stabbing deep into his stomach. As he fell back, Owen caught him and started to treat him, shifting into his doctor mode. As Owen attempted to save the arresting man bleeding out on the pavement, Gwen turned to her team, shocked.

"Help me. I was too close, I couldn't stop it. Oh, God. Oh, God. I just, I just I- couldn't stop it." Jack grabbed the knife from her hands, and placed it on the ground, as he soothed Gwen, Rose couldn't tear her eyes away from the man who lay dying on the pavement. This man from her own past. She had wished multiple times that he would die, but now that it was really happening, she didn't know what to think. He had been her last hope, and had done nothing, but she also didn't want him to die. Before she could wrap her mind around it, Owen was standing. Ed Morgan was dead.

"He wanted to die. He would have found a way, no matter what." Toah layed a hand on Gwen's shoulder.

Owen looked ashamed. "I screwed up, I know I did. But er, I didn't kill him. I could of, but I didn't." 

"No. I did." Gwen sounded devastated. 

"Tosh is right. It could have been anyone." Jack said, shaking his head. 

"What about that?" The Doctor gestured to the device on the table. 

"The problem with seeing the future is you can't just sit and look at it. Got to try and change things, make it happen differently. It's not meant for us. All these ghosts. We'd be lost. Sun's nearly up. Ianto?" He hands the device over. 

"Secure archives?" Jack nodded, and Ianto left to archive it.

They were at home, and the Doctor walked Rose to her room, waiting for her to get in bed before turining to leave. She had had a long few days, he reasoned. He was leaving when she called out to him.

"Doctor?" He turned back to her, raising an eyebrow. She looked so small, buried in all her covers. "Will you... will you stay?" She patted the bed beside her, and he paused for a moment before nodding, and returning to Rose. She scooted over, and he climbed in. He was already in his Pjs. He lay on his back and wrapped an arm around Rose as she curled into him, using his chest as a pillow, and fell asleep within minutes.

**Wow, that was a long one! I hope you guys didn't think it was too dark, I just thought it would add a different twist to the story! I hope you guys liked it, this one took me awhile :) Review pleaseplease? Follow and Favorite! Xoxo, Roxy**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Cyberwoman

**So I am going to try my very hardest to make this very good, but I really hate this episode . Here we go guys!**

"C'mon Rosie! C'mon!" Gwen had the ball, and Rose was desperately trying to steal it. Finally she snagged it and Jack groaned.

"Rosie over here!" The Doctor shouted out to her, and Rose passed it to him. He passed the ball up to Ianto on the catwalk above the hoop. He dropped it easily through the hoop, and Rose, Owen, and the Doctor cheered. The Doctor picked Rose up and she whooped. He set her back down, and they laughed. Owen grinned and hopped down from the catwalk and grinned, slapping Jack's shoulder.

"We won, first round's on you boss!" Jack groaned and the girls grabbed their bags, and the group filed out. Nobody noticed Ianto as they passed.

"I'm just saying Rose, you can't laugh at me for striking out if you if you won't even try!" Owen teased the blonde. "When's the last time you even snogged a guy?"

Rose's face flushed red. "None of your business!"

"Well there's my answer right there. You just a bad snogger or what?" Rose punched his arm and turned back to the Doctor, taking a sip of her drink.

"Awwww c'mon Rosie! You just have to snog one guy! Then I'll stop teasing you!" Owen grinned as she glared at him!

"Oh please, Rosie could have any guy in this bar!" Jack grinned at Owen, winking at Rose.

"You know what, fine." Just as Rose went to accept Owen's challenge, Tosh's phone buzzed.

"UFO sighting over Cardigan Bay. Seven calls to the Emergency Services."

Rose groaned. "Can we at least finish our drinks first?"

"Sure," Jack grinned. "Take ten seconds." She glared at him and took one last sip, setting the bottle back onto the bar and grabbing her bag.

"Tosh, call up the radar within a fifty mile radius of the Bay for the last six hours. Gwen, check with that man. Neil, I think his name was, voice like Sean Connery, at Jodrell Bank. See if they picked up any chatter around the time of the sightings. Owen, access the airspace provision over Cardigan Bay. Rose, look up any RAF flight plans. See if it's just a case of mistaken identity. Doctor, check the rift activity," Jack handed out the orders, and everyone quickly went to work.

As they were each doing their jobs, the lights flickered, and each of them paused, looking up.

"What's happening?" Gwen asked

"Internal power drain," Tosh explained, examining readings on her computer.

"What's causing it?" The Doctor chimed in.

"Something big to drain that amount of power. Tosh, run a diagnostics test,"

"Actually," Ianto quickly cut in "We've been having generator problems all evening. I was down there checking earlier. Some bits of cabling have come loose. I was sure I'd fixed it, let me have another look," The others nodded, and the Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver.

"Want me to give it a go?"

"No, it's fine," Ianto quickly exited the room, and the others got back to work.

"That's a UFO?" Rose said, unimpressed.

"Only just." Owen answered.

"Arkan leisure crawler, first generation. Collectors' item. Don't see many of those around these days. Tosh, send a polite message saying great to see them, but could they please get the hell out of our atmosphere, they're spooking the locals." Jack sat back in a swivel chair.

"Done." Tosh said after a moment of typing.

"Shouldn't we be apprehending it? Investigating it?" Gwen asked.  
"Oh, please. You interrogate an Arkan, you'll be in there for a month. And that's just the first question. They are so boring. Besides, they're mostly made of liquid. The cells would be a mess." The Doctor said winking at Rose. As they talked, the powere flickered once again.

"There it goes again." Owen said, brows furrowing.

"Ianto, we've got another dose of darkness. You found anything? Ianto, I need to hear those beautiful Welsh vowels." Jack spoke into his comms.

"Power's draining to the storeroom at the bottom of the building. Looking for human heat signals. We've got..." Tosh trailed off, looking at the screen, perplexed. 

"Two signals?" Owen read off the screen.

"So assuming one's Ianto, who's the other?"

"I'm thinking we're under attack. Security's been breached. We assume battle protocols." Jack said, pulling out his pistol.

Tosh looked thoroughly confused. "That's impossible. Nobody can get in without triggering seven separate alarms."

Yeah? Well, looks like our system needs to be upgraded." He handed everybody a weapon, except for the Doctor, who still refused to carry one, instead pulling out his sonic. Rose was more comfortable around fire arms now, and grabbed one from Jack.

"I'll head down and look for Ianto." Rose said, and the Doctor frowned, but said nothing.

"I'll come with you," Gwen said, grabbing her own handgun.

"You all right with that?" Rose asked Jack. He nodded.

"Keep your comms open at all times. Any doubt, shoot first. Priority is to find Ianto. And not getting killed." The two started turn, but the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand.

"Oi, you. Be careful," She smiled and nodded, then turned and ran, Gwen right next to her.

They reached the basement, and Rose was confused. "Isn't there usually nothing down here?"

Gwen nodded. "That's what I was thinking." They both readied their guns.

"Progress report." They heard Jack through their comms.

"Signs of activity at the eastern end of the main corridor," Gwen replied.

"We're losing your comms signals," Tosh was typing frantically, trying to keep the signal.

"We're going in to have a look," Rose said into the comms.

"Whatever that power source is, it's interfering with the comms," Tosh said, still typing furiously.

"Gwen, Rose, can you hear me? Damn. Can we get them back?" He could feel the Doctor tensing beside him.

"Trying other channels. There's something else you need to see. I've gone back through our internal CCTV footage for the last couple of hours. Someone's tried to remove the images from our system." Tosh informed him. 

"See, now I'm starting to get a little peeved. These people come into my house, start using my things,"

"I've dug into the system memory." They watched the footage, and saw a Japanese man enter the hub. He looked like he was a businessman.

"What the hell's going on here?" Jack muttered.

"Jack? Tosh?" Gwen called into her comms.

"Doctor?" Rose called into her own. They received no response.

"Gwen, Owen, can you hear me?"

"No comms." 

"We're on our own, then." They reached a door with a window. On the other side, a bright light shone through.

"What the hell is going on?" Rose muttered to herself.  
"What's the matter?" Gwen asked her.

"I can't see well enough, but there's something in there. Some kind of operating table. Get the bolts."

"Okay?"

"Yeah. Okay, one, two, three!" Rose kicked the door open and stopped cold at what she saw. "No. No, no, no, no," Rose felt her stomach drop.

"What the hell is it?"

"It's wrong. It's beyond wrong. It shouldn't be here. Turn the thing off. Turn it off!" Rose searched for a plug, and old memories came flashing back. Steel hands reaching for her. Her parallel mother, turned into a metal _thing_.

"Internal levels are being restored!" Tosh read off her screen.

"Gwen, Owen, can you hear me?"

"I've met these things before, but that was another universe! Why is there one in our bloody basement!" Rose was starting to panic a bit.

"Just tell me what it does," Gwen reasoned with her.

"It's the remnants of a conversion unit. This machinery turns humans into Cybermen."

"If I don't hear something within thirty seconds," The Doctor said, pacing back and forth. He hated Rose in danger. He hated not knowing where she was. Jack nodded in agreement.

"I'm coming down there." He finally said, pulling out his sonic again.

"Doctor? Jack? It's Rose. The comms dropped out. We're back online now," She sounded worried.

"Any sign of Ianto?"

"No. But Doctor, we found parts of a Cyber conversion unit down here. It's definitely them. Fully powered up and working." The Doctor ran a hand down his face.

"This is no time to be kidding around, Rose." Jack said into the comms

"I'm deadly serious. I don't know why it's here, or how it got here, but that's what's draining our power. Jack, you there?"

"...I want you two back up here immediately."

"We still haven't found them," Rose protested.

"Rose, get back here!" The Doctor was going out of his mind at this point. As he said this, there was a crash behind them. They turned to find a woman, but not quite a woman. She was definitely a cyber, but she didn't look finished. Like she was stopped halfway through being converted. She was obviously a woman, and her cyber armor didn't cover a lot. Rose cocked her gun and held it steadily at the woman.

"Code Zero incursion, we're under attack," Rose spoke into her comms.

"If you don't hear from me within fifteen minutes, activate total shutdown procedures and get yourself to safety," He said to Tosh as he grabbed a gun.

"But I can't just leave you all here!" she looked at him, wide eyed.

"If there's a Cyberman in this building, we need a last line of defence. Just make sure it never gets to the outside world." The Doctor told her before sprinting in the direction the others had gone.

"Look, I don't mean you any harm. But come any closer, I'll shoot." Rose said steadily, holding her gun firmly. She was getting nervous, Gwen had gone to check other rooms, and hadn't returned yet. The cyberwoman approached her, swinging her arm and knocking Rose's gun out of her hand. With another swipe, Rose was being held up by her throat. She clawed at the cyberwoman's hands, but it did no good. She was strapped down into the table, and she looked up warily at the blades above her.

"Let me go!" Rose shouted, squirming on the table.

"Do not struggle. You will be like me."

"Look, no offense mate, but I'd rather not be made a' metal," Rose said, still struggling.

"Throw down any weapons, put your hands up and turn and face me!" Rose heard Jack say, and she almost cried out in relief. Lisa obeyeed. Jack trained his gun on the cyber in front of him.

"You're a woman?" The Doctor asked, surprised. Jack just narrowed his eyes, preparing to shoot.

"No!" They heard a shout, and saw Ianto knock the gun out of Jack's hand. Jack looked stunned for a moment. "She doesn't know what she's doing!" 

"You are fighting the wrong guy!" Jack shouted.

Rose watched as the whirring blades came closer and closer. "Get me out of here, someone, please! Switch it off!" She saw the Doctor typing furiously at a computer.

"I'm trying. She's changed all the circuits. Shut off the power everywhere!"

"Toshiko, cut all power in the base!"

"I do that, the base goes into lockdown. We'll be trapped!"

"Just do it!" The Doctor shouted.

"Switch it off!" Rose shouted from where she was strapped down. Gwen ran into the room, looking around at the chaos. Just as the blades knicked Rose's forehead, the power went out, and the blades stopped. The base went dark and locked down.

"Rose?" The Doctor ran over to her.

"I'm fine. I'm fine, I'm fine. Sort of. Doctor, please get me out of here."

"It's all right, I got ya." He undid the straps with his sonic, the familiar blue light and whirring comforting Rose. 

"Where is she? Where did she go? Please tell me you got her." Rose asked as she stood. The Doctor wrapped her in a huge hug, and she returned it for a moment before pulling away. They could celebrate after they survived this. The Doctor reached up and wiped the blood away from the cut on her forehead, and she smiled up at him gratefully. She turned to Jack after retrieving her gun. He turned to face her.

"Stand guard by the door."

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." Ianto looked distraught.

"What for?" Rose said, wondering what she had missed. What had Ianto done?

"Let's just get out of here." Jack said, leading the way. 

"Clear?"

"Clear." Rose answered.

"Oh my God, there she is. What is she?" She wasn't a regular cyberman, sh eknew that. She pointed her gun at the woman firmly. "What are we gonna do?" She asked when she received no answer.

"I don't know."

"She's gone." Ianto said quietly.

"Get us back to the Hub." Jack ordered, pointing his gun at Ianto's head.

"Jack, what are you doing?" Gwen asked him, disbelieving.

Jack's eyes narrowed. "Resisting the urge to shoot."

Things had gone from bad to worse very quickly for Rose. The Doctor was someplace she didn't know, Ianto was unconcious, she was pretty sure Jack had died twice, and she had lost track of the others. She just prayed they were still alive. In the meantime, she was stuck in the Autopsy room with Owen.

"Is there another exit?" She asked frantically.

"No." 

"We're trapped. Great." Rose muttered. Owen pulled open a small door, and opened one of the coolers for the bodies.

"Get in."

"Bit small," She eyed it warily.

"Lie on top of me and it'll take us both." 

"I'm not laying on top of you!" 

"I'm not saying it's a brilliant idea, but it's the only one we've got!" Rose groaned and the climbed in. They shut the door just as Lisa entered.

"What do we do?" Rose asked. She started as Owen pulled her down to him, pressing his lips against hers. She drew back and looked at him, shocked. She stared at him for a moment, and he shifted uncomfortably. After a moment of hearing no noise outside, they quickly climbed out. As they straightened, Rose was caught off guard by Lisa standing in front of her. She backed up quickly, and muttered a curse when she hit a wall.

"Oi! Don't touch her!" She heard, then Lisa slumped over with a shout. Behind the cyberwoman she saw Owen, wielding a scalpel. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her up the stairs. She yanked her wrist away from him as soon as they stopped.

"What the hell was that!"

"What was what?"

"You kissed me!"

"I was about to die, sue me! Not like I fancy you or anything."

Owen turned and saw Jack getting up. He stared. "You should be dead." 

"I'm the stubborn type. Get behind me." Rose saw the Doctor walk up, a small gash on his cheek, but otherwise uninjured. She sighed in relief, a weight lifting from her. He grinned when he saw her. Jack picked up a live cable off the floor.

"Stay back! This'll at least give you a heartburn." Jack grinned.

"The power will run out. I can wait." Lisa said calmly.

"Jack, help her. Give her a chance to surrender" Ianto begged.

"Have you not seen what she's done?" Owen said, obviously pissed.

"Let her stay in the cells. We have to reverse the process!"

"I've told you we're past that. Hold him back." Owen and Gwen obeyed, each grabbing hold of the struggling man.

"What are you gonna do?" 

"Don't ask questions. Just get him on there and hold him." They pulled Ianto back farther, and the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand yanking her back.

"What is that stuff?" She asked, not releasing the Doctor's hand.

"Kind of barbecue sauce. It helps her identify its food." Jack answered solemnly.

"Help what identify its food?"

She got no reply. Instead Jack simply whistled. The team's pterodactyl flew out into the hub, and Rose understood. "Oh, god." 

"Come on, Tosh, hurry up." Jack muttered.

"You'll kill her!" Ianto yelled. At that moment, the pterodactyl swooped down and began to claw at the cyberwoman. "Let me go. Let me help her!" The fight continued, appearing evenly matched, however, the pterodactyl came ahead, and Lisa began to weaken. "Call it off her. You can do that. Have some fucking mercy!" Ianto shouted at Jack. Jack simply looked at Ianto with a blank face. Rose buried her face into the Doctor's chest and he held her tight, not wanting to see it himself, let alone let her. As Lisa started to scream, Ianto began to shout. "No! NO!"

They all exited the Hub, and gathered in the outside of the tourist information center. Tosh ran to meet them. "It worked! What happened to-"

She was cut off when Ianto swung back his arm and smashed his fist into Jack's face.

"You could have saved her! You're worse than anything locked up down there. One day, I'll have the chance to save you, and I'll watch you suffer and die," Ianto's voice was deadly, and the group shrunk back a bit, all except Jack.

"It was the only thing that would stop her!" He replied, refusing to back down. Both men were furious, and their anger seemed to come off them in waves.

"Listen. When I was at reception, I managed to trip the lockdown timer. The power should be coming back on any second. We can get back in!" Tosh explained. Ianto turned and ran back into the tourist information center.

"Ianto!" Jack shouted after him. He shot Tosh a look and the group raced after Jack and Ianto.

"Ianto, stop."

"She can't have survived that attack." The Doctor put in. They were all caught off guard by Ianto cocking a gun and pointing it at each of them in turn. They all stopped short.

"Ianto, don't be stupid," Gwen said, careful not to sound threatening.

"I've nothing left to lose." He replied, tears running down his face.

"There's always something left to lose." Jack's face was stony.

"I'm going back in to save her. Anybody tries to stop me, I'll shoot them." He pointed the gun at each of them again. Jack ran up and quickly disarmed Ianto, taking the gun himself and training it on the man now pinned against the wall.

"You make a threat like that, you'd better be prepared to follow it through." He bit out, anger turning his words into little daggers. "See? You disobey me now, I really will shoot you." Jack pressed Ianto harder into the wall.

"Get off me." Ianto jerked, but Jack was too strong.

"You want to go back in there? You go in to finish the job. If she's still alive, you execute her." The team watched this interaction, not knowing what to do.

"No way."

"You brought this down on us. You hid her. You hid yourself from us. Now it's time for you to stand as part of the team." He pressed the gun closer to Ianto, and he eyed it warily.

"Jack," Rose cut in, trying to ease his fury.

Jack ignored her. "The girl you loved has gone. Your loyalty is to us now."

"You can't order me to do that."

"You execute her or I'll execute you both." Jack's eyes were cold and dark. He stared Ianto down, and the whole team knew in that moment that he was serious.

"I won't do it. You can't make me." Ianto paused as more tears ran down his face, then he hardened, and glared at Jack. "You like to think you're a hero, but you're the biggest monster of all." He pushed Jack and the man finally released him. His gun was still trained on him as he retrieved a gun off the floor.

"I'm giving you ten minutes, then we're coming in." Ianto looked away, and entered the hub. As he left, the team turned to Jack.

"How can you ask him?" Tosh asked, scared at Jack's cruelty. Rose just gaped at him. She couldn't comprehend that the man standing in front of her was the same man who she considered her brother.

"I don't need your opinion." The man shot back at Tosh.

After a few moments they entered the Hub, weapons at the ready. Whem they found Ianto, there was a young girl with a deep cut across her forehead standing in front of him. He had his gun trained on her.

"Ianto? Ianto, it's me. It's Lisa. I'm human again." They heard the girl saw. Rose let out a breath.

"Oh, god," Another innocent girl had died. She had parents somewhere.

"You fought so hard for me, I had to hold on for you, so I took this body and transplanted the brain," Ianto stared hard at the girl and shook his head.

"You're not Lisa."

"You always said you didn't love me for what I looked like. Last time you said that, it was a Saturday. We were hungover. You made cheese toasties, and moaned I hadn't descaled my kettle. That night, we camped on a beach in Brittany. It got so freezing we wore our coats and shared one sleeping bag. When we woke up the next morning, a dog was pissing on our tent. Hold me, Ianto. I need you to hold me. I need you to tell me it's all right." The team each trained their guns on the woman, waiting for Jack's command. Ianto cried out, and the woman took him into her arms for a few moments, but Ianto backed away again, raising his gun.

"What are you doing? Ianto, it's me. You wouldn't shoot me. I did this for you," She sounded confused.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Lisa." He gripped his gun tighter.

"We can be upgraded together," Annie said reaching out to him. They saw Jack grip his gun, and he gave the command. They each pulled down the trigger, emptying each of their clips into the woman. Rose shook as she lowered her gun again. She had shot a woman. She had never killed anyone before. Ianto cried out as Lisa fell to the ground. His heartwrenching sob echoed through the Hub.

It was a new day, and Jack, Rose, Gwen, and the Doctor sat talking. The Hub was mostly cleared up, but Ianto was wandering around with a black plastic bag. They hadn't seen the familiar spark in his eyes in days. Gwen turned to Jack.

"You'd never have shot him. Not really."

"Wouldn't I?" He asked her, meeting her eyes squarely. Gwen paused. Rose spoke up then.

"Would you have shot me? If I had gone to stand by him, would you have shot me?"

He shook his head. "But you didn't,"

"If I had though-"

"But you didn't, Rose." The Doctor grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze as she stared Jack down. She looked away after a moment.

"Will he stay?" The Doctor asked. He received no answer.

"All that deception because he couldn't bear to live without her." Gwen sighed. "Have you three ever loved anyone that much?" Jack smiled, reminiscent. Rose and the Doctor blushed and steadfastly looked anywhere but at each other. Gwen smiled softly at their ignorance of each other's feelings. She turned to Jack then. "You know, when she had hold of you, I thought, just for a moment, I thought maybe you could really die," Rose looked up at this. She hadn't talked much about her supposed immortality. She was terrified. She had no idea if she would _ever_ die. Would she turn bitter? Would she ever want to permanently die? Jack smiled, but it didn't reach the sadness in his eyes.

"Wanna know a secret? So did I. And for a second there, I felt so alive,"

**So how did I do? Pleaaase guys leave a review, I'm getting desperate! I really wanna know what you think! Thanks so much to the people who followed and favorited, you guys are cool! Xoxo, Roxy**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Small Worlds

**Hey y'all! So I never really liked this episode either, but I sobbed so dang hard at it! Just GAAHHHH :'( Anyway, read on, readers!**

"What exactly are we doing here?" Rose asked as she followed Jack into a building. Next to her was the Doctor and Gwen, all of them having no idea where they were going.

"I've had an invitation from an old friend." He said, opening a door. "Here we go," Gwen saw the sign outside and looked at Jack like he was crazy.

"Fairies. Are you kidding me?" Gwen studied the sign that read out 'Fairies: Fact or Fantasy?' Rose looked at the Doctor, who just shrugged and followed Jack inside. As they took a seat, they saw an older woman standing at the front of the room, flipping through a slide show.

"I suppose I'm one of the fortunate few who's been allowed to see our little friends. And it's been no easy task. One needs to have the patience of a saint and the blind faith of a prophet. But for me the long wait has been worthwhile." She flipped to the next picture, where there was a blurry photo. 

"This is my first picture. Not that clear, I know, but the ring of stones can be seen quite distinctly." Rose studied it. She was right, there was a ring of stones there.

"I don't believe this," Rose gasped out.

"Shush," The Doctor scolded her, giving her a wink when she turned to glare at him.

On the screen was a new picture. There were shapes on the screen that had been completely burnt out by the camera's flash. "Well, of course, I'm not the world's best photographer, but this little person is just about visible. I was so lucky to have seen them, so privileged to witness such a magical moment. Because fairies are shy, you see. But I know in my heart that they're friendly, loving creatures. Thank you." Estelle, the woman, finished. The audience applauded politely, and Jack shook his head.

"Wrong. She always gets it wrong,"

Minutes later they were studying the pictures, Estelle sitting across the table from them.

"Estelle, when did you take these?" Jack asked, holding up one of the pictures in her slides.

"A couple of nights ago,"

"Where?"

"In Roundstone Wood."

"Not far from here," Gwen put in, and Rose looked up. She still was pretty unfamiliar with the area here, she hadn't been to Cardif in years, and had to learn her way around again. After a few months though, she had been getting the hang of it.

"So good to see you again, Jack. Oh look, there's the wood." Estelle pointed to another picture. Jack grimaced, and Gwen put a hand on his arm.

"What's wrong?"

Estelle smiled sweetly. "Oh, Jack and I have always disagreed about fairies. I only see the good ones. He only ever sees the bad,"

"They're all bad." Jack said, tossing the picture in his hand back onto the table and folding his arms.

"No, I refuse to believe that."

"Well, I suppose one person's good could be somebody else's evil." Gwen said, smiling kindly.

Estelle grinned widely. "That's what his father used to say. Oh, Jack, if only you had seen them there in the wood. They were happy, they were dancing, the fairy lights were shining." Rose and the Doctor exchanged a look. Jack had been lying. Jack's father wouldn't be born for another 30 or so centuries. Before they could say anything, Jack turned to Estelle.

"Do you have any more photos?"

"Yes, at home."

"Right. I need to see them all." He stood, and the others quickly followed his lead.

After Jack and the Doctor had carried in the projector and slides, Rose and Gwen followed them in. Rose was berating the Doctor as they walked. "You know, I am perfectly capably of carrying that myself," He rolled his eyes and interrupted before she could continue.

"Oi, I was trying to be a gentleman," She huffed and crossed her arms. He looked down at her and smiled at her pouty face as Estelle walked in.

"Oh, thank you, Jack, Doctor." She was holding a black and white cat and set it down on the table. "This is Moses," She explained, lovingly patting the feline. The Doctor wrinkled his nose and took a step back.

"Still don't like cats?" Rose asked him, and he shook his head. She chuckled at him and she and Gwen patted the cat.

"Hello, Moses," Gwen greeted him, as if he would say hello right back.

Estelle handed Jack a folder of pictures and he thanked her, flipping it open. "They're mostly just pictures of the area. Come on, my darling, it's quite time you went outside, isn't it?" She picked up the cat and brought him out to a glass door which appeared to lead to a garden. Gwen stood and looked at the pictures on the mantle. She stopped at one old fashioned picture as she recognized the man in it. Picking it up, she showed it to Jack.

"This is you,"

Pausing for a moment, he shook his head. "Sorry. No, that's my dad. He and Estelle were quite an item once upon a time. They were inseparable." He gave a small smile. Rose and the Doctor exchanged another look.

Gwen kept asking questions. "Then why did they part?"

"It was wartime, he was posted abroad, she volunteered to work on the land. It just happened that way." He ended the conversation with out saying and Gwen stood to go talk to Estelle in the garden.

As she closed the door behind her, Rose took a seat next to Jack. She didn't say anything, just grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. After all, she would understand how he felt eventually. She was immortal now too. After another half hour, they had all they needed. They bid Estelle farewell, Jack giving her a large hug.

"Estelle, when you next see these creatures you call us immediately, understand?" The woman nodded. "Night or day, it doesn't matter, just call us. And be careful, it's important to me." The woman put a hand on his cheek and smiled at him.

"But, Jack, I've nothing to worry about,"

Jack grimaced and met her eyes. "Just be careful. Please." They all piled into the van, and Jack pulled away from the curb. "Estelle shouldn't be living in town. She belongs in the countryside."

"How often do you get to see her?" Rose asked softly.

"We meet up now and again." He said again, not looking at her.

"Whenever she's seen her fairies?" Gwen chimed in.

"She calls them fairies. I don't."

"What do you call them?"

"They've never really had a proper name." His face was grim.

"Why not?"

"Something from the dawn of time. How could you possibly put a name to that?" The Doctor nodded in understanding.

"Are we talking alien?"

Jack shook his head. "Worse."

"How come?" Gwen was confused.

"Because they're part of us, part of our world, yet we know nothing about them. So we pretend to know what they look like. We see them as happy. We imagine they have tiny little wings and are bathed in moonlight." Jack looked so dark. Rose looked to the Doctor for help in understanding, but he just shrugged. He had never encountered these creatures before.

"But they're not?" Gwen asked him, just as confused as Rose.

"No. Think dangerous, think something you can only half see like a glimpse, like something out of the corner of your eye with a touch of myth, a touch of the spirit world, a touch of reality, all jumbled together. Old moments and memories that are frozen in amongst it. Like debris spinning around a ringed planet. Tossing, turning, whirling. Then backwards and forwards through time. If that's them we have to find them, before all hell breaks loose." Jack finished as they pulled up to the Hub. They all gathered in the conference room, Tosh showing them an old picture of one of a girl with a fairy, one of the Cottingley Fairy Photographs.

"This is the youngest girl, and the girl's cousin," She said, pointing to the photo.

"I blame it on magic mushrooms," Ianto put in.

"What you do in private is none of our business," Jack said snarkily.

"But these photographs were fake," Gwen put in.

"Conan Doyle believed in them." The Doctor smiled.

"He was gaga at the time," Tosh said, and the Doctor frowned.

"How do you know so much about it?" Jack directed at Gwen.

"Because I wrote an essay on the Cottingley glass plate photos when I was at school. And when the girls were old ladies they admitted they were fakes."

Tosh nodded. "So where was this sighting, then?"

"In a place called Roundstone Wood." Jack pointed to it on a map.

"I know it. It has an odd history,"

"How do you mean, odd?" Jack asked Ianto.

"It's always stayed wild. In the ancient times it was considered bad luck to walk in there or even to collect timber. Even the Romans stayed clear of it."

"I've had no report of any sighting." Tosh cut in.

"You won't. These things come in under the radar, but they play tricks with the weather, so set up a programme for unnatural weather patterns."

"Right."

"Are you saying our machines can't pick them up?" Gwen said. She had never dealt with anything that they couldn't pick up. It scared her a bit.

Jack met her eyes. "Nothing can."

After they had checked out the woods, they got a call from the police station. There was an unusual death, and to Jack the circumstances were upsettingly familiar. The Sergeant led them through the station to the cells.

"I thought I'd seen everything until now. I mean, we had him locked up, for Christ's sake, on his own. He was shouting the odds when he was brought in. Said things were following him."

This caught Jack's attention "What kind of things?"

"Shadows, he said. And he was going on about being choked."

Tosh approached the group after questioning the surrounding cells' occupants. "There were four other prisoners. They saw nothing,"

"Where are they now?" Rose asked.

"I've had them transferred."

"CCTV?" Jack asked her.

"I'm dealing with it now,"

"At first I thought he was a drunk or a nutcase, or both." The Sergeant said, still thoroughly confused.

"Right, I want this place locked off." Jack said. The Sergeant opened the cell door for them to enter, and they saw the victim lying on the floor, dead.

"Name?" Jack asked.

"Mark Goodson. Worked in town. Business consultant," Tosh read off of her computer.

"Cause of death?" He directed this question at Owen.

"Well, going by the pinpoint haemorrhages on the eye lids and around the hairline, I'd say oxygen deficiency. But it's odd. There's no fingertip bruising on the face, no areas of pallor."

"Nothing to suggest that pressure was applied?"

"No."

"Yet he suffocated alone in a locked cell?" Rose was lost.

"Looks like it."

Gwen stopped for a moment. "Wait a minute." She reached for a pair of tweezers and reached them into Goodman's mouth. Grasping something with them, she carefully extracted them. The group stared as Gwen held up two fresh rose petals that had been in the man's throat.

Tosh stared, preplexed. "I've never seen anything like that before," She breathed.

Jack stood. "I have."

They all piled into the SUV, and they began to adress the situation again.

"We know the dead man was a convicted paedophile, used to hang around schools." Jack said, and the Doctor made a disgusted face.

"But why the petals in his mouth?"

"Just a bit of fun on their part."

Gwen gave him a look. "You call that fun?"

"That's the way these creatures like to do things. They play games, they torment and they kill."

"Why?"

"As a punishment or a warning to others. They protect their own. The Chosen Ones. Somehow children and the spirit world, they go together."

"So how do we stop them?" Tosh asked.

"First we have to find out who they want. And we can't trap them. They have control of the elements. Fire, water, the air that we breathe. They can drag that air right out of our bodies. Sometimes I think they're part Mara." Jack explained, and the Doctor shivered.

"Mara?" Rose asked, looking up at her best friend for an explanation.

"Kind of malignant wraiths. It's where the word nightmare came from. They suffocate people in their sleep. Nightmare, I had with them. They aren't very nice," The Doctor grimaced. Jack's phone rang, and he pulled it out, answering it.

"Yeah?"

"Jack, it's me, Estelle." They could hear her vaguely through the phone.

"What is it?"

"You were right, Jack. There are bad ones. They've come to me," She sounded scared, and Jack's face darkened.

"Estelle, we're on our way. Stay where you are. Don't go anywhere near them, do you understand?" He hung up the phone and stepped down hard on the gas. Tosh was typiing in the backseat, watching a weather reading.

"It makes no sense," Tosh zoomed in. "It's a fine night, but the weather map says there is rain," There was rainclouds gathering, but only over Estelle's house.

They pulled up and Jack parked quickly, running out of the car, quickly followed by the others. He ran through the front door. "Estelle?" He passed through the house, and entered the back room. "Estelle!" He walked out into the back yard, and shouted at what he found. Estelle lay on the pavement of her back porch, dead. Jack knelt down next to her as the rest of the team arrived. Rose clasped a hand over her mouth, knowing her friend must be being hammered with grief. Owen quickly and carefully examined the body.

"Looks like she died from drowning. The rest of the garden's dry as a bone." He backed off a bit, and let Jack gather the old woman up in his arms. He raised a hand, and slid her eyes closed. Rose felt a squeezing in her heart as she watched Jack's stony face. She put a hand on his shoulder and watched as Gwen knelt down next to him.

"It wasn't your dad that was in love with her all those years ago, was it? It was you," Jack did not look at her, just gazed at Estelle.

"We once made a vow, that we'd be with each other until the day we died." Jack carefully laid Estelle back down, then closed his eyes, kissing her forehead. "I need a drink."

Gwen and the Doctor were in the two seats in front of Jack's desk. Rose was perched on the arm of the Doctors. They all sat in silence for a moment, Jack swirling around the contents of his glass. He took a sip as Rose spoke.

"Where did you and Estelle meet?"

"In London, at the Astoria ballroom a few weeks before Christmas. She was seventeen years old and she was beautiful. I loved her at first sight." The Doctor nodded. He could relate. "But nothing lasted back then. Promises were always being broken. Estelle. To have to die like that." He took another sip of his drink.

Gwen spoke up. "Those petals in Goodson's mouth, where had you seen that before? Was that during the war?"

"No. Long before then. On a troop train." Jack paused a moment, then continued. "Fifteen men, with me in charge. Everyone happy. Too happy. Too noisy. Then we hit a tunnel. We thought some birds had flown in through an open window. Then came the silence. And when we came out of the tunnel, all fifteen men were dead. They'd been suffocated. My squad. Men _I_ was responsible for."

"But why were the men killed?"

Jack sighed. "About a week earlier some of them had got drunk, drove a truck through a village, ran over a child, killed her. That child was a Chosen One." Jack swallowed the last of his drink, then set his glass down. "Well, I think it's time call it a night. You guys go home, I'll see you tomorrow," Jack left the room, and the others filed out. They each went their separate ways, and the Doctor and Rose grabbed a cab to go home. They walked up the stairs, hand in hand, and Rose pulled out her key. She was glad to finally be home. It was strange thinking of an apartment as home again, but that's what it had become. She missed the TARDIS all the time, but she would be lying if she said she hadn't grown fond of her and the Doctor's apartment. As she turned the knob, she felt up the wall for the light switch.

"Hurry uuuppp Rosee," The Doctor whined behind her. As she found the switch and flicked it up, she poked her tongue out at him.

"Oh shut it, you," She turned around and gasped. The smile faded off her face, as she took in their apartment.

"What the-" The Doctor stopped in his tracks. The apartment was wrecked. Bits and bobs were thrown everywhere, food had been smashed and thrown around. Rose scanned the room, and she noticed there were twigs, leaves, and smashed flowers scattered around the room as well. The Doctor tapped her shoulder, and pointed towarsd the coffee table. Rose clapped a hand over her mouth as she looked over at it. Sitting in the center of the table was a ring made of small, gray stones.

Jack arrived quickly after Rose called him, with lots of trash bags. He helped them clear up, and as soon as the room looked semi-normal again, Rose turned to him.

"What do we do Jack? I mean, this is where we live! It knows where we live, and it's sending us messages? I'm confused! We haven't done a thing!" The Doctor put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she turned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She was terrified. These things could easily kill, and they had followed them. The Doctor continued for her.

"I agree. I mean as much as the TARDIS is our home, this is also our home. It's kind of unsettling to have evil fairies trash the place."

Rose looked up again. "These things can kill any of us, easy. Well, maybe not you and me Jack, but still. What chance did Estelle have? What chance do any of us have, Jack?" She paused, and collected herself. "You said these things protect their own?"

"Yeah."

"You mentioned the Chosen Ones. What are they? How many are there?"

"All these so-called fairies were children, once from different moments in time, going back millennia. Part of the lost lands."

"Lost lands. What?"

"The lands that belong to them."

"What exactly do they want? Why are they here?" Rose looked at Jack but he didn't give her an answer. She turned to the Doctor, who took a breath.

"They want what's theirs. The next Chosen One."

Everyone was in bright and early the next morning, and Jack was rushing around, never seeming to stop. "Tosh! I want a check on all unexplained deaths in the area."

"What's the weather forecast for today?" She asked instead of replying.

"Long sunny spells." Ianto answered quickly. He always kept vigilant track of the weather.

"It's happening again. I can't understand it. It's going crazy!" Tosh typed into the computer, but the readings stayed the same. Jack grabbed his gun and walked towards the door.

"Just leave it. Let's go!"

They reached the school as the police were sitting the witness, a teacher down. They let the police leave, ignoring their grumbling, and began to question the witness themselves.

The woman was obviously shaken. "I've never seen anything like it. It was so sudden. Then it, then it just ended." 

"Kate, is it?" Tosh confirmed.

"Was anyone hurt?" Owen asked.

"No. Two children were almost scared to death, but they're okay." The teacher shook her head, stunned. "And there was little Jasmine in amongst it all. She hadn't been touched. The sun was shining down on her. It was, it was like an aura, like something protecting her." She looked up at the team, searching for an explanation.

"Who is Jasmine?" Gwen asked.

"Jasmine Pearce. She's a pupil of mine."

"Where is she now?" Jack questioned.

"We're sending all the children home. We have to." The teacher said, confused.

"Yeah, thanks."

"The Chosen One," The Doctor said to Jack, confirming what he already knew. Jack nodded.

"Yeah."

When the SUV pulled up to the house, they heard screams from the backyard. They ran out, each of them jumping agilely over the fence. They ran up just as one of the fairies pounced on an older man.

"Roy!" They heard a woman scream, reaching out to him. Rose ran forward, but before she could reach the man, another one jumped on her, gripping around her throat. It squeezed, and Rose felt the air disappear from her lungs.

The Doctor turned and saw her gasping for air. "Rose!" She was gasping for air, and as he ran over, the thing released her, and as it fled, he saw the man, Roy, was dead. He ran over to Rose and knelt down beside her. "Rose! Rose, love?" He felt for a pulse, and found none. That thing had suffocated her. He felt his hearts drop. "Rose? C'mon, wake up. Wake up, you've done it once, just wake up!" He grinned as he felt her heart stutter to life underneath his hand, and her eyes opened wide as she took in a gasping breath. She looked panicked for a moment, until she saw the Doctor. "Again?" she said, he voice a bit hoarse.

"Yea," He left out a shaky laugh. "You really need to stop dying on me, Rose," He grinned and kissed her forehead, helping her up. They looked around and saw Jack disspearing through the fence, after the girl. Gwen quickly ducked through after, and they each ran forward, the Doctor helping Rose through. They walked up and saw Jack facing the little girl, Jasmine, who was surrounded by the gruesome looking fairies. Rose felt herself tense.

"Suppose we make her stay with us?" She heard Jack say.

"Then lots more people will die." The little girl said. Rose was disturbed that such a sentence had come out of a little girl's mouth.

"Did they tell you that?" Gwen asked.

"They promised." There was a rustling, and 

They heard a soft voice whisper through the leaves. "Come away, oh, human child,"

"Next time they'll kill everyone at my school, like they killed Roy, and that man, and your friend, and that woman," She continued, pointing at Rose. Jack glanced back at her for a moment, and the Doctor grabbed her hand.

"How do you know these things?" Gwen asked.

Jasmine stared at her. "If they want to they can make great storms, wild seas, turn the world to ice. Kill every living thing. Let me go!" She jerked against Jack, struggling.

He looked up at the fairies. "The child won't be harmed?"

"Jack, you can't!" Gwen shouted. He ignored her.

"Answer me! She won't be harmed!"

"We told you. She lives forever." The fairies rasped.

Jack deliberated for a moment, then nodded. "Take her." 

"Jack, no!" Rose made to run forward, but Jack turned to look at her.

"You asked me what chance we have against them. For the sake of the world, this is our only chance!" She looked at him, striken. He released Jasmine.

"Thank you!" She skipped up to the fairies, and they danced away together. Her mother, Owen, and Tosh came running up as they danced further and further away.

"Jas! Jasmine!" Her mother shouted, tears running down her cheeks. Jasmine disappeared in a flash of white light, and Jasmine's mother ran forward. "JAS!"

Jack looked up at her as she yelled. "I'm so sorry." He turned and left, his team coming along behind him, leaving the grieving mother and wife. Jack turned to look at his team. They avoided his gaze, nobody saying a word. He sighed frustratedly.

"What else could I do?" He asked wearily as they climbed into the car. Nobody had an answer for him.

**Guyyyssss I am so pumped for this next chapter! Countrycide! I know it's dark, but I have ideas, and I feel like it will be really cool to write! So drop me a review! Please? And follow and favorite too! Hope you liked it! Xoxo, Roxy**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Countrycide

**YES! THANK YOU, GUEST! SOMEONE FINALLY REVIEWED! I was getting really worried! Well, my dearest Guest, you wanted Countrycide? Here it is! Enjoy!**

The SUV pulled onto the side of the road and the group hopped out. Owen groaned.

"I hate the countryside. It's dirty, it's unhygienic, and _what_ is that smell?"

"That would be grass," Gwen replied as she carried a bag past.

"It's disgusting,"

Rose dropped her bag and took a deep breath, smiling widely. "I think it's beautiful! It smells like that one planet, where was it again, Doctor? The one with the dogs with two tails?"

He grinned, remembering that day fondly. "Harmony VI," Rose grinned and nudged his shoulder with hers. Owen glared at her cheery attitude. They had gotten along better lately, but they still bickered all the time.

Jack walked over to the group. "Seventeen disappearances within the last five months. The police are clueless." 

"Now there's a surprise. No offense, PC Cooper," Owen smirked at her.

"The last known whereabouts of each one is somewhere around here."

Tosh was already typing away on a laptop. "All within a twenty mile radius."

"Anything else linking them?" The Doctor asked, leaning against a table.

"None of the bodies have ever been found. These people just fell off the radar. No patterns in age, sex, race. One minute they're here, the next, pfff. Gone."

"The rift doesn't spread out this far. Does it?" Rose directed this question at the Doctor, but it was Jack who answered.

"We don't know that much about it to be certain. And it's increasing in activity all the time." 

Owen snorted. "Oh, come on. Aliens aren't gonna bother hanging around out here. Probably some sort of weird suicide club with people choosing the same spot to end it all. God knows, if I had to spend too long up here, I'd want to top myself." Rose smacked his arm and gave him a scolding look as Ianto approached with burgers from the van nearby.

"Here you go. Careful, they're hot. Sure you don't want anything, Tosh?"

Tosh nodded. "Really sure. A friend of mine caught hepatitis off a burger from one of these places." Rose had been about to take a bite, but stopped and stared at her burger. After a moment of studying it, she shrugged and took a bite anyway. The Doctor chuckled at her antics, and took a bite of his own food.

"We'll start with the most recent victim, Ellie Johnson." Jack told them. "We last have record of her making a phone call. She dropped out of signal mid-call. The coverage map has her placed somewhere about here. Looks as good a place as any to set up camp." The others grabbed their bags and carried them down a bit further.

Owen froze, and stared hard at them. "Sorry, did you say camp?"

"What's the matter with a hotel?" Owen griped as he helped Ianto set up the boys' tent.  
"People are going missing round here. Do you really wanna stay in a place run by strangers?" Jack asked him.

"Oh, because sleeping outside is going to be a lot safer."

The Doctor walked by with another bag. "No other race in the universe goes camping. Celebrate your own uniqueness!"

Owen got frustrated, and kicked the tent bag. "Some pieces are missing."

Ianto didn't even look up. "No. I checked." Owen simply grunted and layed back on the ground.

They were all walking through the woods, and Gwen and Rose had come with their own little game.

"Oh, come on. It's just a bit of fun. Who was the last person you snogged?" Gwen asked, bumping Owen's shoulder.

"You even sound like an eight year old. Who the hell says snog?"

"Mine was Rhys," Gwen grinned, and Rose groaned.

"Yeah, well, there's a surprise," She rolled her eyes.

Gwen stuck out her tongue at the other girl. "Tosh, your go!"

"It's easy for you," The Japanese woman sighed.

"Oh, come on. Spill the beans!" Rose urged. 

"Owen."

"What?" Owen looked at her, surprised.

"Really?" Gwen chimed in.

"Tosh, love, in your dreams." Owen scoffed.

"Three am, Christmas Eve, in front of the Millennium Centre, waiting for a cab. I had mistletoe," She smiled slightly.

"Christmas. You've not had a snog since?"

"No."

"Wow. Lucky me, eh?"

"So who was yours?" Tosh asked him.

"Rose, actually." The others stared at him, then turned on Rose, who looked panicked.

"Sorry, What?" The Doctor asked, his stomach dropping.

"When was this?" Tosh asked her.

"It was a while ago, it wasn't a big deal," Rose said her face flushing.

"Didn't take you long to get your feet under the table," Tosh muttered.

"Scuse me?" Rose turned to Tosh, shocked.

"So was it just a kiss, or..." The Doctor didn't want to know the answer to Tosh's question.

"It was just a kiss, alright Tosh? Just leave it," Everyone was silent for a moment, then Owen spoke.

"Jack?"

"Are we including non-human lifeforms?"

"Oh, you haven't!" Gwen looked shocked. 

Owen shook his head. "You're a sick man, Harkness. That is disgusting."

"Oi!" The Doctor said, offended.

"Well alright, but you look human!" Gwen reasoned.

Ianto's face was stony. "It's my turn, is it? It was Lisa."

The group's faces fell. "Ianto, I'm sorry," Rose said.

"Sorry she's dead, or sorry you mentioned it?"

"I just didn't think."

"You forgot." Ianto said, and there was silence again.

Rose was the first to break the silence. "We should get some firewood,"

"I'll give you a hand," The Doctor said, and they stood up and ventured out into the woods. As they searched, the Doctor finally asked after what had been festering away in his mind. "So... you and Owen?"

Rose continued to search the ground. "Look, he kissed me, I pushed him off. It's not a big deal, Doctor,"

"Maybe not to you," The Doctor muttered.

Rose turned on him. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing, Rose. It's not a big deal," He bit out and turned away from her.

She grabbed his arm and spun him back to her. "No, it's a big deal! God, what is your problem!" She shouted at him, and he growled in frustration. Rose was taken by surprise when the Doctor grabbed her, pushing her back against a tree. Her back was against the rough bark, and the doctor was barely inches away from her, and she felt her heart speed up.

"This, Rose, _this_ is my problem," His eyes bored into hers, and her breath sped up at the intensity in them. "I am _mad_ about you," He said, barely speaking above a whisper. She let out a ragged breath and placed one hand at the back of his neck, pulling him forward another inch, their lips almost brushing.

"I thought it was just me," she whispered, her fingers playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck. He couldn't supress the shiver that ran though him, and Rose grinned mischievously. "Guess not," She pulled him the last few millimeters of space, and felt sparks shoot through her as their lips met. She brought her other arm up to his neck, and felt his hands slip onto her waist, his slim fingers curving over onto her back. He pulled her flush against him, and she grinned into the kiss.

There was a cracking twig behind the Doctor, and the two quickly the two snapped apart. Rose felt her brain speed up again, and she saw a figure moving through the trees to their right. She pulled her gun out of it's holster, and clicked the safety off. The Doctor pulled out the sonic. "You go left, I'll go right," He whispered to her. She nodded.

"Three, two, one." They ran towards the disturbance, Rose keeping her gun ready. She reached the spot, and saw movement in the trees. Something was coming towards her. She took a deep breath and turned to it as it crashed towards her, her gun at the ready. She quickly lifted the gun as she realized it was the Doctor.

"Shit, don't do that!" She said calming her breath.

He grinned at her. "Oi! You're the one who almost shot me!" She rolled her eyes, but didn't put her gun away. They looked around the area, and stumbled across a cloth, covering a lumpy mass. Rose kept watch around the area as the Doctor crept towards it. It didn't appear to be moving, and Rose watched as he pulled the tarp back.

"Ugh!" He jumped back with a disgusted shout, and Rose clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Oh my god, is that-" She took a deep breath, she felt like she was going to be sick. Under the tarp lay a human skeleton, bloody flesh hanging off of it's bones, The Doctor backed up to her and put a hand on his comms.

"Hey Jack? You guys might wanna get down here."

"Well, it's not Ellie Johnson, that's for sure. This is a male, late forties, fifties. Wasn't killed here. No blood spatter or signs of a struggle. Must have been brought here after he died." Owen examined the body, pointing things out as he spoke.

"Why do that? It's not like they've tried to bury him here." Rose spoke, leaning slightly into the Doctor, shoulder to shoulder with him.

"Maybe you disturbed them and they ran away," Tosh reasoned.

"Maybe it's a warning. Whoever's responsible marking out their territory." Ianto suggested.

Jack nodded. "Cause of death?"

"Impossible to say. The body's been stripped of the flesh and bodily organs so what is left is carcase." Rose let out a slow breath, calming herself a bit. She still was not used to all the gore that came with this job.

"Could the Weevils have come out this far?"

Jack shook his head at Tosh's question. "No, Weevils don't finish off their victims like this." They were cut off from further discussion at the sound of a car engine starting.

"Is that ours?" The Doctor said,

"Yeah," Jack said, and the group all stood and sprinted in the direction of their camp. As they reached the clearing, they saw their SUV being driven away from the camp, the driver adding insult to injury by running over their tents.

"Shit!" Jack turned to Owen.

He raised his hands in defeat. "All right. I've said I'm sorry!"

"Basic security protocols, Owen." 

"Oh, get off your high horse, Tosh. I was carrying that stupid gear!"

"What, the whole time?" The Doctor glared at Owen.

"And then I was trying to put that bloody tent up. And then. Well, yeah, I sort of forgot that I'd left them in there. But I'm sorry. I'm human. I ballsed up," 

Jack turned in the direction the SUV had been driven. "Looks like that body wasn't a warning. More of a decoy."

"That would mean we've been watched since we've arrived." Gwen said, looking spooked.

"Tosh, can you get a tracking signal?"

"Already done. I took the liberty. It's currently three point four miles west from here." 

"Gunning at ninety, no doubt. You steal a piece of equipment like that, you drive straight on till morning." Owen was kicking himself.

"Actually, no." Ianto interrupted. "It's been stationary for the past four minutes. I'd go so far as to say it was parked."

Rose consulted a large fold-up map. "There's a small village in that area. Other than that, nothing for thirty miles."

"Call me suspicious, but this has all the hallmarks of a trap." The Doctor said, catching Jack's eye.

"Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing." He said pausing for a moment before looking at his team. "Anyone fancy a walk?"

"Why would anyone want to live out here?" Owen griped, looking at the row of six buildings, their cottage like looks. Rose thought it reminded her of a romantic comedy, but right now she felt more like it belonged in a horror movie.

"Has the SUV moved?" Jack asked Ianto.

"Not for an hour now."

There was water running from a tap outside, and a tractor sitting un-used. There was a building on the end that had an old looking sign hanging from it, reading _The Tap House_. The group stopped, and Jack handed out orders.

"Tosh, Ianto, and Doc. Follow the signal, find the SUV. Owen, Gwen, Rose. Let's see if there's any room at the inn." Rose gave the Doctor a look as they parted.

"Be careful."

"Same." She nodded and followed after Jack, pulling her gun out of her holster.

They kicked in the door, but there was nobody there. The place was deserted, the ligths all off. The place looked well used.

"Pint of best please, love. And er, yeah, get one for yourself," Rose rolled her eyes at Owen.

"Where is everybody?" Gwen asked as she went through another door. There were flies buzzing around, and Gwen felt her stomach flip as she found another mutilated body. She pushed Owen out of the way as she ran from the building. She fought to get fresh air into her lungs, and looked up as Jack came after her.

"You okay?"

"In there." Jack gestured for someone to go in, and Owen entered.

"Oh, my God." He looked at it for a moment, then he and Rose quickly exited.

Gwen looked up at her boss. "Jack, please, something's going on here." She collected herself after a moment, and Owen and Rose joined them.

"Alright, Rose, with me. Gwen and Owen, you go over there." They left, and Jack turned to Rose. "Let's take a look in here. Come on. One, two, three."

The house was clean and tidy, almost immaculate, Rose thought. She opened an ajoining room, and paused as she heard a splash under her feet. She left the room, shutting the door. Jack saw her face and he was filled with dread.

"What is it?" 

"There's another body in there. Same as the other. What did this, Jack? Cos whatever it is, it can't be human. How far is this going to spread?"

"Stay focused, Rose." He gave her a look, and she nodded. "There's another two houses. We'd better take a look."

Owen and Gwen were having a similar experience. Owen looked down at another body sadly. "Whatever they were, I hope you put up a good fight." They shut the door and retreated, opening the door to the next house.

"It's just half a mile up here." Ianto informed Tosh and the Doctor as they kept walking.

"At least we've still got this. The rest of my stuff was in the vehicle." Tosh said. The Doctor nodded. He was getting jumpy. He didn't like this situation, and it didn't help that he didn't know how Rose was. They weren't that far away, but he didn't like it.

They approached a mostly boarded up building. They approached slowly, and were startled by a barking sound.

"What was that?" Ianto asked.

"Just a fox or something. I'll check round the back." Tosh suggested, and Ianto agreed, going around the other way. The Doctor jiggled the doorknob, but it was locked. After a moment, he heard Ianto shouting.

"Tosh! Tosh! Doctor?" The Doctor quickly ran around the back, but both Ianto and Tosh were gone. He backed away quickly, but felt a blow to his head, and he sank into darkness.

Jack and Rose had moved on to the last building on the block. They tried the knob. 

"Locked?"

"Locked. Wish I had the Doctor's sonic," She kicked at the door, managing to get it open a bit, and pushed the door forward. As soon as it swung open, there was a loud bang, and she stumbled back. She fell to the ground and took a few deep breaths, touching her hand to her side. She pulled it back and gasped, gritting her teeth. Her hands were covered in blood.

**Hey guys, so this is a long one, so I separated it and it is now two chapters!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Countrycide, part 2

**Okay guys here is part two! Hope you enjoy!**

Rose lay on the ground, gasping, as Jack crouched down next to her. "Rose!"

She felt a searing pain in her stomach, and cried out. She saw Jack above her, and she saw Owen and Gwen run over to her. She yelled again in pain, and clutched at her side where the bullets had pierced. Jack stood back up, gun raised as he kicked in the door. After getting the boy to drop the gun, he opened the door again.

"What the _hell _happened?" Owen asked Jack as they picked her up.

"Kid with a shot gun hit her," He said, helping Owen carry her up the stairs and onto a table as she shouted and struggled. "Alright, I'll go check upstairs, Gwen with me," He ordered as Owen pulled off his pack with all the medical supplies in it.

"Owen. Owen, hurry the fuck up!" 

Owen chuckled. "Bet you thought you'd never be glad to see me."

"God, where is the Doctor? Doctor!" She yelled, gritting her teeth.

"Listen, listen. I'm going to have a look at your wound now, okay? Just keep calm. Hands off, hands off, okay?" He pushed her hands off as she tried to push his hands away. As he grabbed his supplies, Rose was frantic, her eyes wide.

"No, don't please. Owen, please!" She didn't want him to prod at it, it was like her flank was on fire. He ignored her and went to examine the wound.

"Could have been much worse, I'll fix you right up. Alright, Rose?" He asked her, cocking an eyebrow.

"No, I'm not bloody alright, I've been shot!" She shouted at him, and he chuckled, handing her a clean cloth, placing it against her wound.

"Hold this, apply pressure." Rose gritted her teeth, but nodded and complied. Owen studied it for another moment before searching through his bag again. "The bullets are all lodged near the surface. You're bloody lucky, if they had been an inch to the left... well you would be coming back to life any time now, s'pose. Anything against a small prick?" He asked her, filling a syringe with a strange fluid.

"Just shut up and drug me," She took deep breaths, trying to contain the pain in her side.

"Alright then," He said, quickly pushing the needle past her skin and quickly depressing the plunger. "All done," he said as the last of the fluid drained into Rose. Her head fell back as the pain was dulled.

"Cheers," She gritted her teeth again as she saw Owen approaching with a pair of tweezers.

"Let's get those pellets out, eh? Now there's still gonna be pain, so just lay back and, uh, think of Torchwood." She nodded and he began expertly extracting the small metal bullets. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking.

"This has got to be one of the worst days I've had in a while," She winced as Owen pulled out a pellet. He nodded but said nothing, concentrating on his task. She studied his face. "Do you like Torchwood?" She asked him out of the blue, and he looked up at her in surprise.

"Course I do. Hunting aliens, saving the world. No job like it. As much as you all hate me, and as much as I bitch, it's the best job in the world."

Rose crinkled her brow. "We don't hate you. At least I don't. Each and every one of you. I think of you all like my best friends. You're like the boy who pisses me off to no end, but I still love 'im," She smiled softly at him, and Owen rolled his eyes, but Rose could see the appreciation in his eyes.

Owen pulled out the last bullet and dropped it onto the tray. "There you go, all done. Now lets get you bandaged up," He took cleaned the wound, clearing it of most of the blood, then wrapped a sterile bandage around it, securing it tightly. Rose grinned at him as she sat up painfully.

"Thank you, Owen," She met his eyes, and he nodded as Jack and Gwen came back down the stairs.

"What's taking them so long," Jack said, worry clouding his eyes.

"Jack, give them a chance. The SUV could be under guard, or locked, or something," Owen reasoned, helping Rose slide off the table into a standing position.

"Or they could be dead," The boy burst in, still looking shaken and terrified. Rose shot him a glare. "Well, everyone else is!"

"Sit down," Jack ordered harshly. The young boy complied quickly. "What's your name? Tell us what happened here," It was another order, but this time, his voice softened a bit. The boy was shaking like a leaf, and Gwen put a comforting hand on his shoulder as he began to speak.

"Keiran." He took a breath. "It's... It's not human. Look, my mum was only expecting me home for the weekend!" The boy met Jack's eyes.

"Look, we'll get you home, okay?" Jack replied, and he held the boy's gaze, but he only shook his head.

"You can't fight them. They're too strong. The only thing we can do is baracade the door,"

"No." Jack looked away, and surveyed his team. Rose was leaning on Owen heavily, but looked to be at least a little sturdier. Gwen stood by Keiran, waiting for his move. "We'll make base at the pub."

Rose stared at him. "What about Tosh and Ianto? What about the Doctor? I wanna go after him," Rose grimaced as he shook his head.

"Not till we know what we're dealing with,"

Rose drew back, and he saw that familiar spark of defiance in her eye. "What if it's too late! What if he has to regenerate? Or worse, what if he doesn't get that chance! And Tosh and Ianto, they can't come back. What if we are too late?"

Jack snapped back to face her, and she had to make an effort not to recoil from him. "They're not children, Rose. They know what to do. Now let's go." He reached forward to help Rose walk, but Owen pushed him away. He glared at his boss as he got Rose ready to walk. She protested, but it quickly became clear she needed help, and she leaned on Owen again. As she stumbled forwards, Keiran spoke again.

"Look, I'm sorry about your friends." Rose's head snapped over to him, and he shrunk back a bit. She didn't say a word though.

The Doctor watched as Tosh groaned, coming to. Ianto and he had been silent, but Ianto spoke as their friend stood. "You know, I never liked camping." Tosh looked a little more alert now, and reached for her holster, only to find it empty. "Don't bother. They took the guns." Ianto looked strong, but there was fear reflected in his eyes. They all looked grimy, and Ianto had a metal hook hefted in his hands.

Tosh looked around the room, and saw that there was just barely enough light to see eachother, and a bit of their surroundings. "Charming place they've got," She stared at the dirty cement walls, and started to wander a bit, the Doctor quickly following her lead.

"Judging by the sound reverberations and the air quality, pretty deep underground." Ianto said, looking at the walls. "Chances of rescue?"

"We won't need rescuing. I haven't met a cell yet I couldn't get out of." the Doctor said, almost boasting, and checked his pockets. He grimaced as he realized they had taken his sonic. Alright, so he didn't have the sonic, he could still get out of this, he reasoned with himself.

"What were they?" Ianto asked them.

"I don't know. It happened too quickly. Are you worried?" Tosh looked over at him. She was very calm, almost casual.

"A little. That body we saw in the forest." Ianto trailed off. The Doctor watched as Tosh studied a chute. He noticed the blood at the same time as her and turned to Ianto.

"Don't think about it. See if you can get that light to work, huh?"

The other man stared hard at him. "You're used to this, aren't you? That facial expression you all share when things get a bit out of control, like you enjoy it. Like you get a high from the danger." He directed the last bit at both of them. The Doctor met his gaze squarely.

"You want me to apologise for that?" That was the way he liveed his life. The way he and Rose had always been, and sure, he enjoyed it. Enjoyed the running, the danger. Ever since he was a boy, he had never stopped running, and he prayed to god he never would.

"Don't you ever wonder how long you can survive before you go mad, or get killed, or lose a loved one?" Ianto looked incredulous. The Doctor opened his mouth, but Tosh was the first to answer. 

"It's worth the risk to protect people."

Ianto looked upset at this. "And who protects us!" Neither Tosh nor the Doctor had an answer for him, so they didn't give him one. Tosh blinked for a moment, then coughed.

"God, I'm hungry," She said, desperate to change the subject and fill the silence.

"Should have had that cheeseburger," The Doctor teased, giving her a smile.

"Not that hungry," She wrinkled her nose. She gasped as she saw an object laying haphazardly on the floor. "What's that?"

"Have you found something?" Ianto asked her, both of them hurrying over to her.

Tosh was crouched down next to the object. "It's just a shoe," She said, but she didn't sound very relieved. "There's another," She pointed at the next one, and they all looked up and gasped. There was a large pile of shoes, pairs piled on top of each other. "There's dozens of them!" the woman gasped. Her mind was whirring at a hundred miles an hour. "How many people have been down here?"

"More importantly, what happened to them?" Ianto added. The Doctor nodded. They all jumped when a loud mechanical noise started.

"Is that a fridge?" The Doctor asked incredulously. What could a fridge be doing in a basement? He stopped as realization hit him. He had been around long enough to not be so naïve anymore. He knew where the shoes had come from. Their owners were still in the room.

His suspicions were confirmed as Tosh opened the door, and took in the pieces of flesh stacked in it. She quickly slammed the door shut. She turned, a hand clapped over her mouth. She looked like she was about to gag, but she took a deep breath. Ianto looked even more panicked at her reaction. "What? Tosh, what is it, what's in there?" He surged forward, and she stepped in front of him, protesting. He pushed around her and opened the door. His eyes widened and he slowly let the door swing shut.

"That was why there was nothing left of the bodies. They need to eat." the Doctor's eyes were dark, and he looked at his friends before he continued. "We're food."

"So what happens to the others if we barricade ourselves in?" Gwen asked Jack. They had reached the tap house with no problem, and were blocking the doors. They had checked all the rooms again, and Rose had immediately collapsed into one of the chairs, catching her breath. Jack did not look at his team.

"Why are we still talking about this? They can take care of themselves. This Kid is our first priority, are we clear?" He looked at each of them. Gwen and Owen nodded slowly, not really agreeing, but orders were orders. Rose met his gaze evenly, and he saw the fire there. He looked away and continued. "They've already come after him once. Something tells me they don't give up easy."

There was quiet for a moment, then Gwen spoke. "Do we know of any species that strip humans of their flesh and organs?"

"I've never seen any," Rose put in. She and the Doctor had seen a lot, but she had _never_ seen anything like this. She went to stand up and Jack looked at her disapprovingly.

"You should be resting," As angry and stubborn as she was being, Rose was like his little sister, and he was worried. True she couldn't die, but her healing processes seemed normal, if a little accelerated. She was still in pain, and he didn't like that. She turned to face him, and she almost completely covered the pain it caused her.

"I'm helping. If you are going to lock us in here, fine, but I'm going to be useful. Our friends are out there, and I am going to help them." Rose sounded furious. He nodded.

"We have to assume the other disappearances have been murders too." She nodded and chewed on her nail.

"So you think there've been seventeen deaths?" Gwen said, writing down what they knew on the chalkboard for keeping score during darts.

Jack nodded. "At least. These aren't casual killers,"

"So, let me get this straight," Owen cut in. "The rift is getting wider, and now it's dumping aliens and psycho-killers wherever it fancies?"

"Looks like," Jack nodded again.

"Well this conversation has cheered me up to no end." Owen grumbled, slouching down unhappily in a chair.

Out of the corner of her eye, Gwen say a streak of movement. She spun towards the window and studied outside. Approaching it slowly, she spoke. "Did you see that?"

"Something outside?" Rose questioned, joining her over by the window. Besides a bit of pain, her wound was not bothering her quite as much and she pushed it to the back of her mind. There were more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. There was a shattering sound, and Gwen and Rose jumped back as glass somewhere was destroyed. Owen drew his gun as he approached behind them.

"Was that the same one or different?"

"He said they'd come back," Rose said, looking over at Keiran who was asleep on the couch.

Jack laid a comforting and quelling hand on her shoulder. "Let's not jump to conclusions. We don't know who they are, or what their intentions are." His voice was even and calming, but just as Rose relaxed a bit, the lights went out. This put Rose more on edge than before even.

"I'm thinkin' that's not a good sign, Owen said sarcastically, handing Rose the gun she had dropped earlier. She took it gratefully, holding it at the ready.

She looked over and saw that Keiran was wide awake, his shotgun loaded and ready. His knuckles were white as they grasped the long firearm. "They've come back." His face was devoid of color as he stood shakily. There was a rattling as the front door was pounded on. Gwen ignored it and stood, walking over to the young boy.

"Keiran. Listen to my voice. Okay? Just come back, okay?" Keiran shook his head, his eyes still filled with fear. 

The pounding at the door stopped, and they took a breath, until the doorknob to the cellar started to turn. Jack rushed over and slammed the door shut, holding it in place with his shoulder.

"Okay," he said with a grimace. "So we didn't check the cellar,"

Keiran aimed his gun at the door shakily. "You can't let them in." The Torchwood team drew their guns and approached the door. Gwen spoke calmly but forcefully to Keiran.

"Keiran. Come back from the door."

"Don't let them in," He said, begging.

Owen spoke to him roughly. "Go sit down, we've got this under control." Keiran ignored him, instead shouting at him in reply.

"You don't understand! You don't know what they're like!" The boy gripped his shotgun even more firmly. Suddenly Jack faltered, unable to hold back the door anymore. He took a step back and opened fire as the door was flung open. Rose was firing shot after shot, but she couldn't make out what the thing was. Keiran was grabbed and dragged down into the cellar. He was clawing at the ground, dragging his nails, desperately clinging to anything.

"Help me!" He shrieked, reaching out to the team. "Oh god, help me!" Rose ran forward as the door was left swinging behind them.

Jack grabbed her arm and held her back. "It's pitch black, and you have no tracking devices. I'm not letting you get killed again!"

"Get out of my way, Jack!" Gwen was right behind her, but he stepped in front of them both.

"Listen!" They finally stopped for a moment and looked at him. "Whatever is in that cellar to three shots. I heard it fall. Once we know what it is, then we will know how to deal with it." He looked at each of them.

Rose paused a moment then nodded. "Alright. You and Gwen go down there. Me and Owen will go after Keiran and the others."

Jack grabbed her arm again. "You are wounded."

Rose's eyes were practically sparking. "Do you think that's gonna stop me!" She stared him down evenly for a tense moment before he gave in.

"Be careful." He said roughly. She paused for a moment. "Go!" He nodded towards the door. Owen had already taken down most of the barricade, and hefted one final piece out of the way. They exited the house, going slowly for Rose's sake.

** And onwards to part three! I know it is long, but I wrote a lot. Review, follow, and favorite? Xoxo, Roxy**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Countrycide, part 3

**Holy crap three parts sorry! I didn't realize I had made it this long. Hope you like! Last part, promise.**

Ianto was kicking ferociously at the door when the small panel opened. It swung open and they backed off a bit, Tosh brandishing the meat hook. The woman on the other side looked terrified as Ianto rushed towards her, giving a lame attempt at disarming her.

The woman shook him off. "Get off," Ianto glared at her as she spoke. "Look at me, you idiot. I'm not gonna hurt you!" The woman looked sincere, but they were all still tense.

"You've got a gun." Tosh gestured to the long, double barrel shotgun that she was holding.

"I promise," The woman, said.

"Okay, okay. Give her some space." The Doctor said, pulling his friends back. He was just as on edge as his friends, and he looked the woman over warily as she spoke again.

"Thank you." Her expression was concerned as she studied their grimy state. "Were you injured when they took you?" She received no response. "Can I see? I'm a nurse," She reached towards them, and they all backed away, Tosh once again brandishing the rusty hook. The woman held up her hands in defeat. "Okay. Okay, okay. Does anyone else know you're here? Have you managed to call for help?"

"We don't need any help. There's three more of us in the village." Tosh said, raising her chin a bit.

The woman looked like she was about to cry. "I can't help you. I'm sorry."

"What d'you mean?" Ianto's brow crinkled.

"I've been sent to collect you. I've got to take you to them."

"Then tell us what's going on. We can help," The Doctor said, soothing her. He had seen plenty of scared, repressed people during his travels, but never had one had the ability to shoot him before.

"No one's safe. Every ten years it takes us again." The woman grip tightened on the gun.

"What takes you? What is it?" Ianto asked, scared.

"The Harvest." She paused for a moment, then raised the gun quickly, and pointed it at each of them. "No, please, you have to come with me." Tosh dropped the meat hook as she stared down the double barrels.

"You sure you're alright?" Owen asked as he helped her down the road. She was walking steadily, at least, but her painkillers were wearing off. She was happy to find that the pain was dulled now. She must have a faster healing time now. She had noticed that she never got bruises anymore. Odd. She shook her head as it spun a bit and turned back to Owen.

"Yea. I'm fine." He looked at her doubtfully and she rolled her eyes. "I'm _fine_." He nodded and they turned back to the road as a car's headlight's pierced the darkness. A police car rolled up next to them as they watched, and a police man stepped out. "Bloody brilliant. Let me do the talking." Owen opened his mouth to protest, but Rose shook her head as the police man approached.

"And who are you, please?" He asked her, his voice bordering irritated.

"We're Torchwood. Special Ops. Have you heard of it? Torchwood?" She asked him, trying not to sound breathless. She wasn't doing a very good job.

"What's that then? A band, is it? What's wrong with her then?" He directed the last part to Owen.

"You wouldn't understand, mate," He said a little dismissively. As the police man opened his mouth to reply, Rose turned and started.

"What's that light? Over there, what's that light?"

The police man looked more irritated than ever. "The Big House? Sort of unofficial Village Hall. Village meeting tonight, I'm here to make a Constabulary Report," The man explained, but Rose was uninterested. She was already quickly walking. In her determination, she ignored the flaring pain in her side, and simply walked forward on her own. Owen quickly followed after her. The police man followed the two. "Where do you think you're going?" He protested.

The woman pushed Tosh, Ianto, and the Doctor roughly, urging them into a small cottage. "In there, please." She ordered.

"If you help us, we can stop all this. Please," Tosh looked at the woman, who only shook her head.

"I'm sorry. Get back." They all looked around the cottage. It was small, and there was a plastic sheet separating it halfway. There was blood splattered in various places around the room, and the Doctor gulped. He really hoped Rose was okay. God, she better be okay.

Tosh grimaced, and for the first time, was shaking. "Oh, God, that stench," She said, staring hard at the bodies wrapped in plastic that hung from the ceiling. "Tell us what these creatures are. Do they look like us?" She asked the woman, who simply looked in the direction of the sectioned off room. She pushed them inside and they saw a chuckling man standing there.

"How else are we gonna look?" He asked her rhetorically, and he pulled the woman to him. The two kissed, and the Doctor wrinkled his nose. Ianto looked like he was about to bolt, but before he could, the two separated and brought Ianto's hands behind his back and cuffed them together. The woman looked at her... husband? and smiled.

"There are three more out there." The Doctor stiffened. Did that mean the rest of the team were out there?

"Not a problem. How are they?" The man studied the three of them, and Tosh shrunk away as he approached her.

"They're in a good state." The woman replied as Tosh's wrists were bound together by the blood-stained cuffs. "I think they're the best we've ever had."

"Yeah? Oh, I forgot to tell you, we caught the boy. Finally. Come on." He pulled up a young looking boy, who looked terrified. They hauled him up a bit, so he was in a sitting positioin. "Come on," The man urged him, shaking him a bit.

"I won't tell anyone," The boy begged, and the Doctor felt bad for the young boy. He couldn't be more than 19.

Apparently Tosh noticed the same. "Who is he?"

The man looked at her. "He's meat. I'm afraid we're all just meat." He trailed off at the end, looking down at the quivering boy again. 

The Doctor and Ianto met eachother's eyes, and the Doctor immediately saw it. That spark, that plan churning away in his mind. The Doctor nodded and Ianto turned to Tosh. "Get ready to run." He whispered to her.

She stepped forward, jutting her chin up defiantly. "What're you going to do, put us on meat hooks?"

The Doctor was impressed. However, a bit of her nerve melted away as the man grabbed a baseball bat up off the floor, and smirked. "No, not yet. You see, meat has to be tenderised first." He walked over to Ianto, who was eyeing the bat warily. The man seemed to sense his fear. "Good. Ready?" He asked, not wanting or needing an answer.

Ianto smiled at him for a moment. Then he drew his head back, and headbutted the man into stumbling back. The Doctor, who had not yet been handcuffed, grabbed the woman. He yelled at Tosh to run, and she obliged, sprinting out of the shack. The Doctor was pushed to the ground and cuffed. He saw the woman slam down on Ianto's head with the butt of a rifle, and grimaced. He saw the rifle coming swiftly towards him, and for the second time that day, everything went dark.

Tosh was running. She was gasping, barely maintaining her balance. She threw herself behind a tree as she heard running footsteps behind her. The man slowed.

"I know you're here," She heard him say, and she struggled to control her breathing. It was no use though, and she gave a small shout as the man caught her. She was standing in front of him, and saw the wicked glint of the machete at his side. She paused, then kneed him in the crotch. She took off again, and he stumbled after her after a moment of recovery. He caught her once again and threw her to the ground. She struggled to push herself away from him, but it was no use. He pinned her down and wrapped a hand around her neck. "No more games. Hush now." His other hand joined the first. "Hush now." He squeezed, hard, and Tosh's air was cut off. Her eyes bugged out for a moment, then suddenly the pressure was gone.

"Get off her." She almost cried out in relief at the sound of Owen's voice. She looked at him, and found his gun pressed against the temple of her pursuer. She saw Rose and a police man standing to the side a bit, Rose's own gun drawn and cocked, but held at her side. The man was not moving, so Owen kicked the side of his head roughly. He quickly recovered, standing, but keeping his hands in the air.

"We saw the torchlight," Rose explained to Tosh, who for once in her life, didn't care.

"They've murdered all the villagers. They're cannibalising the bodies." She said, and saw Rose's eyes darken with anger and fear.

"Put the gun down." the man said to Owen, who chuckled.

"You're in no position to negotiate, mate."

Tosh let out a small sob, and Rose rushed over to her, wrapping her arms arounf the small woman. The woman was unable to express it without breaking down, but she was immensly grateful the blonde was there.

"It's all right, it's all right. You're safe." Rose to the PC who was standing to the side. "You can arrest him now." He did nothing. "Oi! I said you can arrest him."

"Are you gonna arrest me, Huw?" The man chuckled.

"That'd be a laugh, wouldn't it? My own uncle." The PC, Huw, pulled out his own gun, and pointed it at Owen. Rose reacted quickly, standing and pointing her gun at the PC.

"Put the gun down." Rose spoke through gritted teeth. "Don't you hurt him,"

"Shoot the bastard. Split his skull!" The bloodthirsty man cried out, and Rose began to shout.

"Put the gun down, Dammit! NOW!"

"Shoot!" The PC was frozen.

"I will shoot you. Put it down." the PC finally told Rose, who paused.

"Pull the trigger. Kill!" the older man demanded, but Rose stopped him before he could say more. She raised her hands and placed her gun slowly on the ground. She met Owen's eye, and he saw the pain there. He would have been touched, if he didn't have a gun trained on his head. The man got up from the ground and approached Owen.

"Why don't you give me the gun, mate?" Owen looked furious, but had no choice. He handed over the gun, and they were led back to the cottage, roughly pushed through the door. Rose gasped as she took in their surroundings.

Tosh looked at the two cannibals in digust. "Who are these people?"

"This is our village." The woman replied.

Rose shook her head. "No. The villagers are dead."

"They're all involved. They've all been doing it." Tosh put in, and Rose felt like puking.

"This is our Harvest."

Owen shook his head, despite the gun pressed close to his head. "Only in the bloody countryside. You sick fuckers." He said, looking straight at the man.

They heard Keiran whimpering in the corner, and Rose and Owen would have been relieved, if they themselves weren't in need of a good saving right about now.

Rose felt her mind whirring, and finally asked the question she was afraid to hear the answer to. "Where's The Doctor? What have you done with him?" She was proud of how confident her voice sounded. The man bent over, and she gasped as she saw the bag over his head, but it was definitely him. She recognized his brown shirt he had worn. They removed the bag, and she saw that he had a rapidly bruising mark on his forehead, acompanied by a small gash. They pulled Ianto up, and he was in a similar state. They must have been knocked out. Tosh grimaced. They had gotten knocked out, so she could escape. The love she had for her team doubled in that moment.

The man smacked the Doctor's face, trying to rouse him. "Wake up, man." The Doctor finally blinked awake, and as he realized where he was, he began to struggle. Looking around, he was sad to see Ianto beside him, and Tosh had been recaptured. Oh well. Worth a shot. He looked up however, and saw Owen there as well. Well shit. His breath caught as he saw Rose there too. As he studied her, Tosh studied him. As he saw his best friend in this slaughterhouse, she saw fear in his eyes for the first time that day.

The man chuckled and pulled out a long knife. The Doctor mouthed at Rose to run, but she shook her head. Her words from a long time ago echoed in his head again. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. The blood covered machete was lowered to his cheek, interrupting his thoughts. "Time to be bled, like veal. It takes a long time, but it definitely makes the meat taste better."

"Right, good to know." The Doctor replied sarcastically. If he was gonna go, he wasn't going to go out with out at the very least a little sass. He saw Rose open her mouth to cry out to him, but before she could say a word, the whole cottage started to shake.

"What the hell?" the man said, removing the blade from the Doctor's now sligthly cut cheek. A small drip of blood fell from his cheek as the rumbling grew louder. "What is it now? What the fuck!" The man cried as a wall of the building was demolished. Bits and shards of wall tumbled around, and a large piece of construction equipment came barreling into the room. The team smiled genuinely for the first time that day as they saw Gwen and Jack in the cab. The two hopped out, and immediately started firing. They took out each of the killers, only hitting kneecaps and non-fatally wounding them. They each fell to the floor, writhing in pain. Huw was able to move a bit, and strained to reach his gun. Jack saw this and rolled his eyes

"Oh really?" He fired a single shot, and the man moved no more.

The team stood and Rose rushed to the Doctor. "Are you okay? You're not hurt badly are you? How is your head? Did he cut you anywhere-"

"Rose!" She stopped and looked at him. "I'm fine. What about you?" He surveyed her for the first time and his eyes widened as they reached her blood soaked torso. "Rose, what the hell!"

"So I kinda... sorta... well I got shot," she said and pulled her shirt and hoodie aside to show him the bandage. He gaped at it as Jack came behind him and undid his cuffs. As one hand was freed, he turned and smiled softly at Jack, who just nodded. As his second hand was freed, he quickly grabbed Rose, wrapping her in a large hug. He was careful not to put any pressure on her wound, but held her for several long moments. She finally pulled away as the man behind her hissed in pain.

Jack turned to the man, and cocked his gun back. Rose turned and protested. "No, Jack! Don't,"

He kept his gun trained on the man. "These kinds of people don't deserve warnings."

Gwen was the next to speak up. "Let me question him, Jack. I need to understand. Otherwise, all this... It's just too much." She was begging him. He finally lowered the gun.

"They're injured, they have to get to a hospital," Tosh put in.

"Owen, you control the bleeding and then phone the police. Jack, give me and Gwen an hour with him." Jack looked at her, and before he could disagree she cut him off. "I know you Jack. You want to know too." He nodded.

"The whole village was involved?" Gwen questioned first. They were back in the tap house. The police had arrived and were taking care of all the official work for the investigation.

The man did not look up. "Every generation. Our tradition. Once a decade target those travelling through, those most likely to disappear."

"And butcher them. What sort of people are you that you wake up in the morning and think, this is what I'm going to do? Why'd you do it? Come on. Make us understand." Rose coaxed him. She wasn't quite sure why she wanted to know so badly. Closure?

"Why do you care?"

Rose glared at him coldly. "I have seen things you would never believe, and this is the only thing I can't understand." The Doctor was watching from a few feet away, standing firmly next to Jack.

"So keep on wondering." The man smirked at the two girls across from him.

"Tell me. I need to know why!" Gwen shouted at him, slamming a fist on the table.

Jack stepped forward. "That's enough. Time to go." Gwen shook him off, and he stood where he was.

The man smirked again. "All right, I'll tell you why." He said, his crooked teethdull in the light. Rose and Gwen looked at him, waiting. "Cos it made me happy." He had a wistful smile on his face, and Gwen's mouth hung open, stunned. Rose clapped a hand over her mouth, and for the first time in a while, began to sob. She felt the tears drip down her face, and she felt the Doctor's strong arms wrap around her, but she couldn't stop.

**So there we are guys! The end of Countrycide! I really like this episode, and I know. It was a reeeally long one :P but I hope you guys enjoyed, cuz I certainly did! I dunno how much I will get written over the next week as I am on Spring Break and am being forced to go to Tennessee. Rural Tennessee. Yay. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please follow, favorite, and review! Xoxo, Roxy**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Greeks Bearing Gifts

**Hey guys! So I just wanna thank my darling Guest, who should sign in so I can send you love, for being so fab and lovely and reviewing! I love Countrycide too, it is dark, but it's such an interesting story line, because the monsters aren't aliens. They're **_**people**_**. I thought that was pretty cool. I'm really glad you are enjoying the story :) You guys should review so I can talk to you all, and find out how you like it! Anyway on with our present-bearing ancient Mediterraneans!**

The SUV pulled up at the scene, and they each hopped out. None of them were new at this anymore, they were a well oiled machine. They all walked towards the large tent that had been erected, and Jack threw aside the curtain as he entered. The team followed close behind. The Doctor bounced on the balls of his feet. He had finally agreed to wear something other than his suit a week ago, after loads of nagging from Rose. He had even gone _shopping_ and gotten new clothes. He felt weird without his usual armor, but he was coping better than he thought he would. He looked down in the pit dug in the ground, and raised an eyebrow at the ancient skeleton half buried there.

From it's appearance it had to be more than a hundred years old. There was a large, gaping hole in the middle of it's ribs, right over it's heart.

"Once, just once, I'd like to come into one of these tents and see a party. You know, food, drink, people dancing, a girl crying in the corner," He sighed, and Rose rolled her eyes at his jokes.

"Is it alien, party boy?" Rose asked him, and he gave her a surprised look. He bent down and studied the large metal pieces in the hole.

"And how."

"Any idea what it is?" Gwen asked him, and he shook his head.

"Not a clue. Could be a weapon, or it could be a very big stapler. Doctor?"

He looked up and studied it for a moment. It kind of looked like a large crane claw. It looked familiar, but he just couldn't place it. "Dunno... How's our friend there?" He directed the last part to Owen.

"She's dead."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yea, coulda guessed that, thanks. Bloody humans." He shook his head and Rose punched his arm lightly, scolding him, but still smiling. He smiled back at her softly.

"She?"

"Judging by the size of her skull." Owen answered Jack without looking up.

"How long have they been here, Tosh?"

"From the depth they found them, a hundred and ninety six years, eleven to eleven and a half months. The earth's been disturbed so I'm afraid I can't be more accurate."

"What killed her, the stapler?" The Doctor asked, pointing to the large hunk of metal.

"Nah. See those shattered ribs? I reckon she was shot." Owen said, pointing at the victim.

"Well, let's get her back to the Hub and find out." Jack said, standing. Gwen reached down to help Owen up, and teased him jokingly as she pulled him up.

"Oh, you're so light. You're like a girl!" She stuck her tongue out at him, and he narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not light, I'm wiry. Fat girls go mad for it." Rose rolled her eyes at this and pulled the Doctor past them, her hand in his. They were close enough to hear what he said next, and she paused for a moment. "But I guess I don't need to tell you that." Her head was whirring. She had wondered if Owen and Gwen had been sleeping together, but she hadn't wanted to jump to conclusions. Now it appeared that she was right.

It was back at the hub, and Rose came running as there was a crash near Tosh's desk. She came in to see Owen and Gwen laughing like idiots, Tosh came in right behind her and looked hurt for a moment, but the look was gone in a split second. Rose studied the two in front of her, hands on hips. Owen had a football in his hands, and looked at Tosh.

"I'm really sorry... I think your computer might be dead." Rose didn't think he looked sorry, and she glared at him.

"You're kidding! What happened?" Tosh ran over to her computer, and managed to get it on again. She looked a bit crushed.

Owen didn't see, or did and didn't care. "Well, she said I was no good at sport, I mean, hello? So I said throw something to me and-"

"Owen, shut up. She means what happened to her computer." Rose folded her arms.

"Oh, I kicked the plug." Rose threw her hands up in defeat and stalked out of the room as Tosh yelled at them. She angrily stalked into the kitchen, where the Doctor was making tea. He looked up as she entered.

"Uh oh. I know that face. What happened?" He handed her a cup of tea and she smiled at him, taking a sip.

"Our co-workers are children, you know that?"

"I did, surprisingly!" He smiled at her and took the seat next to her, his own mug in his hands. "Who was it?"

Rose smiled at him. "Gwen and Owen. Don't get me wrong," She quickly added. "I love them both, they are both wonderful and brilliant, but they wiped out Tosh's whole project she was doing with her language thing. Took her hours, it did. And I get that they're happy and all, and I'm trying not to judge them but _really_ how can I not!"

The Doctor paused. "Hold on, you lost me."

Rose rolled her eyes at his obliviousness. "They're sleeping together,"

"Oooh... That explains quite a bit, actually." The Doctor paused again. "Wait... Gwen's with Rhys, right? God, I feel like a soap opera,"

Rose giggled. "Yeah. And I'm trying so hard not to judge, though! Because what would I do if I didn't have you here! I would have nobody to talk to about any of this! Gwen has no one away from Torchwood. Maybe she just needed someone, y'know?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yea. I guess." He nodded and smiled at her. She smiled back and his mind flashed back to that moment in the woods. Before everything went to hell, it had been lovely. He had somewhere found the courage to kiss Rose. Like, a full on snog. Against a tree. And she snogged back. They hadn't talked about it since, but he had thought about it plenty. His eyes flickered down to her lips, and he grinned as a blush colored her cheeks. She stood and put her mug on the counter.

"We should get back to work," She said, and he nodded, but didn't move. She started to walk out of the kitchen, but turned to him before she left, and spoke only a little hesitantly. "By the way... you look gorgeous in jeans," She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and left the room. The Doctor was blank, stunned for a moment, then grinned like an idiot. As he returned to his research, he felt like he was on cloud 9.

Tosh walked in late the next day. Rose glanced up at her, and wrinkled her brows. She had been off lately, she hadn't quite been herself. She was _always_ on time, for one thing, and she had been a bit more snappish lately. She shook her head and put it down to being her time of the month. God knows she got snappy when that time came around.

Tosh looked up as Ianto greeted her. She gave him a half-hearted smile and a small hello. When Rose looked back down at her work, she put the pendant back on. Instantly, she heard the thoughts of her team.

_What the hell would produce such a perfect circular puncture? Maybe some kind of wooden stake. _Owen thought as he wandered by, obviously distracted. "Hey, Tosh." _She'd better not go into one about the computer again. _

"Morning." Tosh's heart fell. Of course Owen would be so callous. Why should he care?

Gwen sat at her desk, nearby Rose. _Sergeant giving it all, Oh, Gwennie has deigned to call her old mates. Should put a weevil in his bathroom. _

Tosh shook her head, focusing herself. "I've got something to show you,"

"Sure." Owen said. _Please don't make us sit through another slideshow about the Incas or whatever it was. I want a biscuit._

"Sounds great," Rose smiled warmly, as she usually did. _I hope she's okay, she's been acting strange for a while now. She looks distracted. Maybe she knows about them,_ Tosh watched as Rose's eyes flickered between Gwen and Owen, and she felt her stomach tighten.

_ "_Have I got time for a pee first?" _Oh, sweetheart, the jeans in the boots thing has really kind of had its day. _Tosh shook her head, glancing down at her boots briefly.

_ "_I er, I found this thing," Tosh said, trying to get through her sentence.

_What's she talking about? She can be dead weird. Wonder what she'd be like in bed. Catholic but grateful, I bet. _Owen's errant thought floated into her mind.

"Okay. Er, I don't know if this comes under actual technology," She tried to continue. She was determined to show the pendant to them.

_I can smell Owen. I can smell him on me from that shag in his car this morning. That's twice now. Does that make it an arrangement? Has to be more than two times, surely. Long as we keep it to just the two times we're fine. What's Tosh looking at? "_You okay, Tosh?" She nodded and looked away. She had been staring at Gwen.

Owen was also looking at Gwen, apparently remembering. _When she did that thing, when she ran her tongue across my teeth. I should have worn different trousers. I'm gonna have to sit down till this subsides a bit._

"Yeah, no, fine." Tosh assured her, though she wasn't sure if that was true anymore.

"So? What is it you wanted to show us?" Gwen was getting impatient. _I wonder if I could get Owen to come down to the vault. No, couldn't have sex in front of a weevil. I couldn't even do it in front of Trevor Kendall's cat._

_ "_Forget it. It's er, I found, I found this article. I'll bring it in tomorrow."

"No worries." Owen said, distracted, and slouched into a chair near Gwen. _But thanks for that rambling trip to nowhere, Tosh._

She rushed out of the room as fast as she could without running. She had to get out of there.

The Doctor bustled past her, giving a small smile. _C'mon, just do something. Ask her to dinner, Rose'd like that. Maybe get her some flowers? Nah, too cliché. God, listen to me, I'm domesticated. Then again, I was asking for it, with Rose._ The Doctor bounced up the steps, his converses slapping against the floor.

She ran into Ianto, and she paused. _Can't imagine the time when this isn't everything. Pain so constant, like my stomach's full of rats. Feels like this is all I am now. There isn't an inch of me that doesn't hurt. _Tosh paused. She knew he was still hurting, but this was worse than she could imagine. And they all acted like nothing was wrong.

"I'm about to brew some of Jack's industrial strength coffee. Would you like a cup?" He asked her, and she blinked, shaking off her thoughts.

"I'm, I'm fine. Thanks, Ianto." He smiled and left, and she took the necklace off with shaking fingers. She shoved it in her pocket, and tried to take control of her spinning mind.

Tosh entered the autopsy room, standing on the balcony above, in between Jack and Rose. The Doctor sat on a step, leaning against the railing near Rose's leg, and Ianto stood on the other side. Below, on the table where the skeleton sat, Gwen was teasing Owen relentlessly, and he gave her a look, although he was fighting a smile.

"What's going on?"

Rose grinned as Gwen went off. "You know the skeleton we found at the site? Well, Amanda Burton here has just completed the post mortem."

"Okay, I can explain," Owen started, but Gwen cut him off.

"As you may remember, at the building site Owen said this was a woman killed by a single gunshot."

"I'd been there, like, a minute?" Owen tried to reason, but Gwen just grinned and continued.

"Since then he's had to tweak some of his initial conclusions. The first being that this isn't, in fact, a woman, but a man!" Gwen burst into a peal of laughter, and Owen rolled his eyes.

"A young man. A very girly man."

"But still ultimately a man. Then there was the cause of death. Owen said GSW. Ah ahh. The correct answer was-" She turned to Owen gesturing to him like he was on a game show. Owen looked unamused.

"unidentified trauma. But-"

Tosh cut him off, confused. "Unidentified trauma?"

"Mmm. You see it in RTAs, when something like a steering column or a post goes into a body at great velocity." Gwen explained, serious for a moment, then turned to Owen, teasing again. "But the one thing that could be ruled out was?"

"Gunshot wound." Owen leaned back against the wall in defeat.

"Gunshot wound! Was there, in fact, any part of your prognosis that was right?"

"I got that it was a skeleton."

Gwen grinned at him and nodded like she was talking to a child. "Yes, you did. Yes, you did. Where did you train? Where did you train? Did you train? Absolutely useless."

"Look, all I'm saying is that you really are an awful driver," Rose giggled as the  
Doctor rolled his eyes.

"I am a perfect driver, ms. Tyler!" He grinned down at her, and she rolled her eyes.

"You blew a red light, like 2 minutes ago!"

"Well, I didn't see it now did I, you were punching me!" They placed their order and waited for coffee as their playful argument continued. As Rose plopped the coffees in a tray, the Doctor tapped her shoulder, and pointed to the corner. Rose looked up, and saw Tosh sitting at a table, across from a pretty blonde woman. The woman was talking to Tosh, who shook her head. As they watched, Rose getting ready to run over to say hi, they were both shocked as the blonde woman pulled Tosh forward, and the two locked lips in a searing kiss. Rose's mouth dropped open, and the Doctor blinked in surprise. Of course, neither of them had a problem with Tosh kissing women, but it was so unexpected, it took them both completely by surprise.

Rose, not wanting to interrupt, grabbed the Doctor's hand, and quickly led him out of the shop.

It was much later that day when Rose finally got up the nerve to ask Tosh about the mystery woman. She glanced around for the Doctor, then plopped down next to the Japanese woman. "Alright, the Doctor told me to keep my mouth shut, but I can't, so who is she?"

Tosh looked up, her eyes widening the slightest bit. "What?"

"The woman! The blonde one, at the coffee shop! Ok look, me and the Doctor were on a coffee run, and we saw you. Totally by accident, promise! It's just, I didn't know you had a girlfriend!" Rose grinned at her, and Tosh sighed, but said nothing. "C'mon," Rose prodded. "I'm a very good listener," This sent Tosh over the edge. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to tell her a bit.

" I don't know how, or why, but I can't seem to stop. I don't know if I even want to," Tosh looked up at her, looking perplexed, and Rose chuckled.

"Don't I know it, Tosh. Don't I know it. So what's her name?"

"Mary," Tosh supplied, even though she didn't believe that was her real name. Rose grinned at her, and Tosh studied her. "Why aren't you more surprised about this? You saw me kissing another woman,"

Rose chuckled again, and smiled softly. "You do realize who you're talking to, right? I live with a 900 year old alien. I figure if it makes you happy, who am I to say otherwise?" She patted Tosh's hand, and stood. "If it helps at all, you looked really happy with her. I think you even looked in love," Rose grinned and walked out of the room, a small bounce in her step.

It was later now, and Tosh typed in the code for the entrance. Mary was close behind, and she couldn't help but feel like she was betraying her coworkers. But this was Mary, she had to do something. She had to help her.

Mary whistled at the inside of the hub, and rattled of a long Coleridge quote before turning to Tosh. "So, where is it, lover?"

"Stay here. Jack, my boss, has got it." Tosh said, starting to walk away.

"Be quick. I've a long journey ahead of me. I might need something to eat before I go." Tosh missed her small smirk as she spoke.

"This what you're looking for?" A deep voice rang out, and Tosh looked up to see her boss, holding the very artifact that Mary wanted, the one from the pit.

"Jack," Tosh said, looking for a way to justify this. The rest of the team ran into the room, and stood, waiting to see what would happen. She racked her brain, but it was spinning to fast, whirling out of control.

He interrupted before she could speak again. "Friend of mine, let's call him Vincent, that was his name after all." Jack gave a small smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Regular guy, girlfriend, likes his sport, likes a beer. He starts acting a little strange, a little distracted. Suddenly he disappears for a couple of months. He comes back, and we've got to start calling him Vanessa. Since then I've always been a little nervous when a friend behaves out of character." Jack stepped of the last stair, and turned to Mary. "I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced. Jack Harkness. My guess is you're not from around these parts." He hefted the equipment in his hands. "Now this? This is incredible. You know what it is?"

Tosh nodded. "It's a transporter. Mary was a political prisoner. She was exiled here. Look, Jack-"

He cut her off again. "You've got half of it right. Mary, it is Mary, isn't it? You want to tell her the really interesting bit?" The blonde woman was silent. Rose watched as Tosh stared at him and her girlfriend. Rose just wanted to give her a big hug Jack continued. "No? Chatty, isn't she? I don't know how you got a word in edgeways, Tosh. It's a two man transporter. Or whatever you people may be. You might be squids, for all I know. A two squid transporter. Room for one prisoner and one guard. You want to tell us what happened to the guard, Mary?"

The hub was dead silent as the blonde woman's eyes hardened, losing their soft factor and turning into calculating orbs of blue. "I killed him. But I was disturbed. Poor woman, came running from a soldier in the woods," She looked pitying for a moment, then grinned, reminiscence etched on her face. "Then another came. A soldier. He tried to shoot me. So I plunged my new human hand into his chest and plucked out his heart." She gripped her hand into a fist and looked smugly at Jack. Tosh felt like she had been punched in the stomach.

"And that's what you've been doing ever since." Owen put in.

The woman turned her steely gaze to him. "This form needs to be fed," She said, as if she was having a normal conversation.

"All the punctures were all about the size of a fist. My God, all those people. You killed all those people," Rose gasped out, and the Doctor took a step closer to her.

"I fled before any more soldiers came. I had so much to explore. And how I loved this body. So soft, so wicked." She ran her hands along her curves and grinned. She turned and faced away from the group. "The power such a body has in this world. Within a few years the forest had gone, transporter was safely buried under the spread of the city. I didn't care, I wasn't exactly in a hurry to get home." Her smile faded a bit, anger edging in.

"And you've been killing ever since." The Doctor filled in, his voice hard.

"I knew there might come a time when my situation here became complicated, but I was safe as long as I knew where the transporter was." Tosh felt herself break a little more at her words, and without thinking, she pulled out the necklace, and clasped it around her neck.

_The way she looks at you with those eyes. She's like an animal._ Gwen was in a defensive position ready to move.

She did not look over at them, but closed her eyes. She heard Owen next. _When they brought that girl into the hospital, I had only been qualified six months. I wanted to throw up._

Rose's thoughts came after him, and her thoughts were laced with sadness. _Oh, god. Toshiko, I'm so sorry._

Jack continued "And then the machine was uncovered."

Mary faced him. "As soon as the air touched its surface, I could feel it."

Owen's thoughts filtered into Tosh's brain again. "She's just talking. She's not even frightened of us, she's just talking."

"So I found my Toshiko. My beautiful Toshiko." Mary grinned at her and sauntered closer, running a hand over her cheek. Tosh felt the tears in her eyes and blinked them back.

_Gonna go for it now._ She heard Owen think, and spun to him, holding a hand out.

"Owen, no!" In a blur, she felt herself being pulled backwards, and felt the cold metal of a knife pressed against her neck.

Jack's voice was loud and furious as it boomed throught the hub. "Let her go, Mary. Let her go!"

"Toshiko, tell them to give me the transporter." Mary purred into Tosh's ear, and she felt tears slip down her cheeks now, her terror and sadness almost overwhelming.

"I can't, Mary."

_It's ridiculous. We're unarmed. We're just shouting at her._ Owen's frustration was apparent. 

_Not again. Please, God, not again._ Ianto's eyes were wide as he watched.

_Knife has incisors on the blade. It'll tear Tosh's throat out._ Gwen thought, staring hard at the knife, and Tosh heard the Doctor come up with a similar thought.

"You," She gestured to Owen. "how's this? I'll exchange Toshiko for that one." She gestured again, this time at Gwen. "Your choice," She grinned at him, already seeming to know what he would do.

_No, no, no. Not Gwen._ Tosh let out a gasp at his thoughts and Mary smiled.

"Just put the knife down." Owen reasoned, holding his hands out.

"Did you hear him? He didn't want to, did he?" Mary said, close to Tosh's ear, but loud enough that the others could hear.

_She read my thoughts. She actually read my thoughts._ Owen thought, eyes wide and staring at Tosh.

_What happened? Don't want to? What did he say?_ Gwen was looking between them, lost.

"Please, don't." Tosh whimpered.

"That's what they think of you. That's who you've been working with for all these years!" Mary told her, laughing a bit.

"It's not true, Tosh. Don't listen." Owen told her, but didn't meet her eyes.

Mary continued as if he hadn't spoken. "But not me. Whatever I've done, it doesn't change the way I feel about you. We have a connection, Toshiko, something real." She purred into her ear, and Tosh let out a small sob, before, for the first time, she heard Jack's thoughts.

_Toshiko, don't move. Don't do anything until I say._

She let out a small sniff. "Please,"

"Okay. You want the transporter, we want Toshiko. I think that's a fair swap," Jack said cautiously.

_I've been trained for this hostage situation. For God's sake, Gwen, think._

"Keep the knife and I'll give you the transporter myself," Jack told her, and Mary studied him.

_He's just going to let her go?_

Mary apparently decided Jack was telling the truth, so she released Tosh, who stumbled forward, clutching the railing, tears streaming down her face. Jack inched forward, and Mary grabbed the transporter and smiled. Jack didn't let go, and Mary wrinkled her nose.

"You smell different to them," She told him. "You and the blonde.

"Yea, we get that a lot," Rose sighed.

"That's nothing. It's when you compare teeth with a British guy, that's when it's really scary." Jack smiled, but again, it didn't reach his eyes. She didn't smile back, only moved her face closer to his.

"What are you?"

"I don't know." He told her, truthfully. Mary grinned at him, sneering.

She took a step back, and Jack released the contraption. "And you would have put me in a cage?" A whirring sound interrupted her gloating, and she looked down at the device in her hands. "What's happening?"

"Oh, that. I reprogrammed it for you. It's set to enable." Jack smiled smugly, and she stared at him, a hint of fear reaching her face. Tosh gasped as the transporter glowed white, blinding her as it grew brighter and brighter. It grew so large it swallowed Mary up, then shot upwards through the ceiling. "Sort of now." Jack finished. Tosh stood shakily and turned to him.

"What did she- Has she gone home?"

"I reset the coordinates." Jack told her, his face set.

"Where to?"

"To the center of the sun." He informed her harshly. "It shouldn't be hot. I mean, we sent her there at night and everything." He turned to go, but Tosh spoke up, tears rapidly falling from her cheeks.

"You killed her." It wasn't a question, but he answered her anyway.

"Yes." Jack's face was hard. Rose couldn't help but think it was harsh. She had seen Tosh in love, she was sure she had. Now she saw her heartbroken.

**So I just realized my line break thingies weren't working :/ So I'm trying a new kind! I hope you guys liked this! Since it's mostly a Tosh only story, I realize that this is shorter, but there aren't a lot of parts that would change if Rose and the Doctor were there, so yeah... Still please follow, favorite, and review! To make me happy! Pleeeease!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: They Keep Killing Suzie

**So in an effort to make up for the fact that I was stuck in the middle of nowhere, and thus couldn't write, I am going to write extra super duper lovely updates for you guys! Sorry I didn't post this sooner, I had tech week, and IT'S OPENING NIGHT! I hope you enjoy! Thank you to edf-k for reviewing! It made me very happy!**

The SUV screeched to a stop in front of the house. It was crawling with police as the team stepped out. A dark skinned woman approached them, and called them over to her. She looked them over, unimpressed. "At last. You must be Torchwood. My team bitch about you all the time." Jack grinned at this.

"And you are?"

"Detective Swanson," She held out her hand, and Jack shook it firmly.

"I'm Captain Jack Harkness,"

"So I've heard. Tell me something, are you always this dressy for a murder?" She eyed him warily, and he grinned cockily.

"What, you'd rather me naked?" He asked, and the Doctor rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth shut.

The Detective shook her head. "God, the stories are true," She muttered, and before Jack coulde reply, Gwen interrupted.

"So who's the victim?"

"That's victims. Plural. Yesterday, man murdered at 96 Oakham street. Alex Arwin, 28, single, estate agent." She handed a file to Jack, who opened it and gave the picture a look, then flipped to the next page.

"Here we go. That's from the scene of the crime," She said, gesturing to a picture in the folder. "Today, in here, we get two more. Mark and Sarah Brisco, both 33, married. He's a surveyor, she works in education." The Doctor glanced at the folder and saw a picture with red smears. He gestured to the picture.

"What about these smears of blood? Is that writing?"

Swanson turned to him briefly before turning and walking, leading them towards the house. "Work in progress. Come inside and see the finished thing."

As they entered the room, the first thing Rose saw was blood. It was everywhere, splattered across the walls, the floor, and the bed. As she looked at the bed, she saw the two victims. They were quite literally torn apart. They were covered in blood, gashes and pools of blood covering every inch of their bodies. They were laying side by side, and she froze as she looked up above the bed.

"Oh my god," She heard Gwen beside her. TORCHWOOD, scrawled across the wall, written in two average, innocent people's blood.

"Looks like somebody wants your attention," They heard Detective Swanson's voice through their shocked fog.

"They've got it." They all stood for another moment before Swanson led them back outside.

"We found a few of the killer's hairs from last time. Lab results should be getting in soon," the Detective explained as they walked.

"Good, we'll need that." Jack spoke to the woman as his team carried in heavy looking cases. "Now, if you could clear the room, some of this equipment is need-to-know only."

Swanson looked only slightly irritated. "Well, it was only a matter of time,"

"What was?" Jack wasn't about to let her walk away without elaborating.

Swanson took a step closer, and met his eyes evenly. "Torchwood walks all over this city like you own it. Now these people are paying the price. Ordinary people, ripped apart, with your name written in their own blood. From where I'm standing, Captain Jack Harkness, _you_ did this. The lot of you." She turned and walked away, and they looked after her for a moment, then Jack cut in, telling them to hurry up, and they each set about doing their own specific jobs.

"Still," Owen cut in. "At least we've got a head start."

"Yeah," The Doctor agreed, grinning at Rose, "If it's someone we've pissed off, that narrows it down to what?"

"Four, five million?" Owen finished, and the group chuckled softly.

"And that's just the humans," Jack added. "Tosh, how we doing?" He spoke into his comm, talking to their techie who was currently typing on a computer in the SUV.

"There's no record of either Mr. or Mrs. Brisco in our database. Not a trace of yesterday's victim either, nothing to link them together. No connection between any of them." There was a ping on her computer and she spoke into the comm again. "Jack? They've got the results on the hairs,"

The team walked out and met Swanson as she reviewed the report. "Initial findings say Caucasian male, early 40s, smoker, drinks tequila... Doesn't match any DNA profiles. Only thing of interest is a compound that we've never seen before." She showed the paper to the Jack. "Recognize it?" He passed the paper to Owen, who paused, then looked up at the rest of his coworkers.

"Well, we're in trouble."

"What is it?"

Owen met Jack's eyes. "Compound B67."

"You're kidding," The Doctor said, wishing with all his might Owen was wrong.

"Retcon." Owen confirmed. "He's got Retcon in his blood."

OOO

They were gathered around the desk in Jack's office, Owen giving them each a paper with the basic information on Retcon. Rose looked at it, expecting to see pure giberish, but was surprised to find that she understood most of it.

"Compound B67, aka Retcon, aka the magic ingredient of the amnesia pill," Owen explained, and Rose spoke up next.

"How though? Wouldn't we remember them? Or maybe not the Doctor and I but surely you haven't given the pill to many people?" Jack didn't answer, but only gave her a look. She drew back, a bit surprised. How many people had they drugged?

"But is he remembering that he's a serial killer, or is he becoming a serial killer because of the Retcon?" Owen pondered, and Gwen's eyes widened.

"Wait a minute, I've taken Retcon,"

Jaack shared a glance with Ianto, then looked back to Gwen. "Then better stay away from sharp objects." She didn't look very comforted by this. "Ianto, how many people have we given amnesia pills to?"

"Two thousand and eight." Ianto answered, and Rose's eyes bugged. Two thousand and eight people!

Owen grinned excitedly. "Hey, what if the all become psychotic?" Tosh gave him a disparaging look.

"Do you have to sound so happy?"

"I'm just saying," he replied, still smiling. "mean streets,"

They looked at him a moment before Jack spoke again. "Tosh, narrow down the list to fit Swanson's profile. Start checking them out, fast as you can." He turned to face Rose and the Doctor. "You two, there's got to be a link between the victims. Find the link, find the killer. Get to it,"

"Jack... if there's a link, why don't we just ask the victims ourselves?"

Jack gave the blonde a look like she was on drugs. "Not really the time for a séance, thanks."

Rose rolled her eyes, but Gwen caught on before she had to say anything more. "The first time I met Torchwood, you had that glove,"

"Not a chance," Jack said, shaking his head. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Not after what it did to Suzie." Owen put in.

"It brings people back to life! Just for two minutes, and we could question the victims!" Gwen said, looking at each of the members. Rose was the only one who looked to agree with her. Even the Doctor looked cautious at the idea.

"I think she's right." Rose defended, and Gwen shot her a grateful look.

Owen shook his head. "That's exactly what she said. She was on our team, we trusted her. And now she's dead because of that thing." His face was stony as he looked at Rose. "What about you? You two were always chatting. You were friends, and look what it did to her."

Jack nodded his agreement. "The glove stays in the safe, where it belongs."

"These murders are happening because of Torchwood. So Torchwood as got to do something." Rose nodded her agreement with Gwen, and they both met Jack's eyes evenly. He sighed and nodded.

The team watched as he pulled it out of the safe, then set it down on the table. It's dull metal caught the light in the office, and reflected the fluorescent shine. Rose swallowed. The last person to wear this had been a friend of hers. A friend who had turned out to be a serial killer who shot herself, but still her friend.

"It fell throught the rift forty years ago and sat at the bottom of the bay until we dredged it up. I always figured this wasn't just lost. Who ever threw it wanted rid of it."

"You know, we never did think of a cool name for it," Owen said, thoughtful.

"I thought we called it the Ressurection Gauntlet?"

"_Cool_ name, Tosh,"

"That is a cool name!" The Doctor defended, and Rose rolled her eyes at him.

"You're such a nerd." He looked at her, grinning.

Ianto was squinting thoughtfully. "What about... the Risen mitten?" Catching the other's looks, he shrugged. "I think it's catchy."

OOO

Jack was staring blankly at the glove in his hands.

"Jack you okay?" Gwen asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. He didn't answer, but slipped the glove onto his hand.

"Remember, the longest time we got was two minutes, and that's only because Suzie had practice. The most we're likely to get is thirty seconds, okay?" The team nodded, ready at their individual stations. "Tosh, you ready?"

Tosh was up at her computer, setting up the last program. "Ready, and... recording. This was victim number one, Alex Arwyn," She watched and listened to the screen as Jack placed his hand on the back of the victim's head. Gwen watched from the corner, a look of intense concentration on his face.

"Come on, come on Alex... come back," He muttered.

"How does it work?" Gwen spoke from the side.

"It's sort of like... reaching into the dark... finding the dead... I can't, I don't-" He looked confused. "Ah!" He jerked back like he was shocked and ripped the glove off "Damn! Ow." He shook his hand and looked to Gwen. "Sorry," He said, shrugging. "I never really was any good at this thing. Owen," He held the glove out to the dark haired man, who shook his head.

"I tried last time, didn't work. It only ever worked for Suzie. We all had a go. Except Rose," He shot a glance at the blonde, who was sitting on the stairs chewing on her thumb nail.

"I'm not giving it a go. People who are dead should stay that way. I learned that the hard way. I'm not doing that again." She and the Doctor exchanged a look and he gave her a comforting smile form his post across the room at the computers. "It probably wouldn't even work for me anyway. I'm like you Jack, remember?" She swallowed, looking down. She was still having a hard time with her immortality. She didn't know how long she would live. Or if she would ever die. What if she outlived he Doctor? She shook her head, clearing it of these thoughts, and saw that the Doctor was staring at her, anguish written on his face.

"Well I never gave it a go," Gwen suggested, and Jack stared hard at her for a moment before reluctantly nodding and handing her the glove.

She slid the gauntlet onto her hand, flinching a little bit at the icy metal. "'s cold," she commented quietly and Jack nodded.

"It warms up." Gwen craddled her gloved hand gingerly, and Jack explained. "The glove relies on some sort of empathy, that's why we wanted Rose. Maybe a sort of compassion and just... be yourself," He told her, and she walked next to Alex's head.

She pressed her hand against Alex's head, and almost immediatley, she threw her head back, gasping. Rose hopped up and ran over to the bed side, next to Jack. A moment later Alex gasped, and Ianto started his stopwatch.

"Somebody help me! Oh my god, help me!"

"Alex! I need you to listen to me, okay?" Jack told the hysterical corpse.

"Somebody help me!"

"That's what we're doing love," Rose told him, putting a hand on his arm, but moving it when she felt the cold flesh beneath her fingers. "You were attacked, Alex. Did you recognize them?"

"Who are you?" the man asked her, fear in his eyes.

"How long?" Jack asked Ianto.

"Fifteen seconds,"

"Who are you!" He asked Gwen, who smiled at him sweetly, if a little shakily.

"I'm just trying to help, sweetheart, I'm just trying to help,"

"I want my mum," Rose felt a twang at that. She missed her own mother, she had only talked to her on the phone recently. "please, let me see my mum," Alex's face slackened, and he slipped back into death. His pulse stopped, and the heart monitor flatlined.

"He's gone," Owen told them, but Gwen shook her head.

"Let me keep trying,"

"Gwen, he's dead."

"But I can bring him back!"

Jack turned to her. "The glove only works once,"

"But I can do it, just let me try!"

He grabbed her arms roughly. "Gwen, look at me. He's gone," She looked at him for a moment before giving a small nod.

"Amazing," Ianto spoke, looking at his stopwatch. "twenty four seconds. She's a natural,"

"Give Ianto a stopwatch and he's happy," Owen muttered, rolling his eyes. Tosh chuckled from her computer.

"What do you think Gwen? Do you want to stop?" The Doctor asked her, crossing his arms over his chest. Gwen wiggled her fingers inside the glove, but kept it clutched to her chest, shaking her head.

They got the next victim out and onto the table. Gwen took her position, and they heard Tosh from the upper level. "This is victim two, Mark Brisco."

Gwen pressed her hand to the victim's head. "Oh god, I can feel him," She said, gasping at the pressing darkness surrounding her, the fear he felt in his last moments wrapping her up, suffocating. "It's like... a rope, connecting my heart to the glove. Oh," She gasped. "It's so warm,"

Mark gasped and his eyes shot open. Unlike Alex, Mark looked terrified, but didn't scream. "Where am I?"

"You've been hurt. We don't have long. We need to know who attacked you," Jack urged the man.

"Is my wife all right?"

Rose smiled down at him, her eyes soft. "We're looking after her, don't worry."

"Now, Mark, who was it?"

"It was that man. He belonged to Pilgrim. He went to Pilgrim," The dead man choked out quietly.

"What's Pilgrim?" Jack asked

Mark's eyes grew wide. "Oh my God, he had a knife,"

"No, Mark, he's gone. We don't have long. Quickly, what was his name?"

"Thirty five seconds," Ianto chimed in

"Max. Never knew his surname," Mark told them, defeat and confusion and terror in his voice.

"Trying Pilgrim and Max. Get a description." Tosh was typing furiously.

"You've got to give us something more so we can catch him." Rose said giving the victim's hand a squeeze, ignoring how cold it was.

"He's going." Owen told them, his eyes on the monitors.

"There was, there was someone who knew him better. That woman. She was always talking to him."

"What was her name?"

"Where's my wife?"

"Her name!"

Mark let out a shuddering breath. "Suzie." The room was silent, except for the beeping of the monitors. Mark let out another agonized breath, and Gwen felt him slip back into the crushing black. She released his head and stared at her boss. Rose did the same, her mind whirring. She had to have heard wrong. She must have. There was no way!

"One minute, five seconds," Ianto read off his stopwatch.

Tosh was also frozen at her station. "Jack?" She finally asked. "Did I hear that right?"

Owen shook his head, shoked. "Could have been anyone," He rationalized. "Must be a ton of women named Suzie."

Jack shook his head, his expression grim. "Not connected to this case." He looked up at his team. "We've been talking to the wrong corpse."

**Hi guys, so I hope you enjoyed! This one took me awhile, sorry! Please leave a review/like/favorite! I would be reeeeeaaaaally happy! Bye! I have to go to my performance now, so bye! Xoxo, Roxy**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: They Keep Killing Suzie, part 2

**Hi guys, so uhh... please don't kill me! I'm soo soooooo sorry, I have been doing mad amounts of schoolwork, plus planning stuff for my brothers grad party, mom's birthday party, and all that. Plus working so I can actually afford to fill my car with gas :/ So I love you all please don't hate me! If it helps, I missed you guys! Also, Whenthebirddies? Are you Russian? Because seeing a review in Russian made me spaz so hard like HOLY SHIT THATS SO COOL! I am very interested in other languages :P I am learning Chinese currently, and I love it!**

The flier was very simple. It looked handwritten. Rose's finger ran along it's edge as Tosh handed one to each of her other team members. "Pilgrim, a religious support group," her words mirrored those that were neatly written across the top of the page. "More like a debate society. Meaning of life, does God exist, all of that." She continued. She sat down into one of the chairs around the table. "The point is it was tiny. More like a hobby. Mark Brisco's wife ran it, Sarah. The fliers were handwritten and photocopied, which explains why there were no records. She wasn't even online," Tosh sounded almost scandalized at the idea, and Rose smirked.

"Any mention of Suzie or Max?" Jack asked Tosh, who was standing at the front of the table.

"Nothing. She didn't even keep a register."

"It wouldn't be our Suzie though. She wouldn't be into all this support group bollocks." Owen looked at them, and Rose pushed her hair back. She didn't see anything wrong with a support group. Her mom tried one for a while.

"How do you know?" Gwen spoke next. "I mean were you friends? Any of you? Who was her best friend in this place?"

Every one was silent, looking down slightly. "She sort of kept herself to herself,"

The Doctor looked over at his blonde friend. "Rose, I thought you two were pretty friendly, did she ever mention anything?"

Rose opened her mouth, but looked hesitant. "Well, no. We mostly talked about work. She didn't want to talk about anything else but work. But the Gauntlet, really. I always did think it was a bit weird," Rose quieted and looked down. The Doctor slipped his hand into hers.

"Well then," Gwen said. "If she needed to talk? Maybe that's exactly where she'd go. A group of complete strangers,"

Jack nodded. "Could be." Gwen raised an eyebrow, and he gave in. "It's a good point, Gwen." He stood and put his hands down on the desk, looking at his friends. "Time we got to know our deceased colleague a little better."

OOO

They drove in silence to the large warehouse. As Jack pulled the door to Suzie's compartment open, Gwen grimaced. "So have I got this right? When I die, you get to keep all of my possessions? My whole life gets stuffed in a locker?"

"Rules and Regulations," Jack told her.

She thought for a moment. "What if I leave all my stuff to Rhys?"

Jack grinned at her mischievously. "We'll stash him away too," He grinned as he finally flicked on his flashlight. He shone the light around the room, and they all studied the boxes that were stacked high around the room. "Tread carefully people. With respect. This is the life of Suzie Costello."

They fanned out and started to sift through the boxes. Rose was trying to kepp herself detached, but it was difficult. This was her friend. A friend that had killed her, but she still caught herself missing her every now and then. The Doctor looked through a box with her, looking at a small trophy from a childhood tournament before replacing it in the box and shifting to look into another.

"That's we all are in the end," Tosh speculated. "pile of boxes." Rose grimaced. Not her. She would just come back. She wondered vaguely if she would outlive the Doctor.

Gwen held up a tattered photo of Suzie and an older looking man in a hospital bed. "Is her father still alive?"

"Don't know," Tosh answered distractedly.

"But you must've looked him up to let him know his daughter was dead?"

"Suzie wiped her records," Rose told her. At her own request Tosh had worked for hours trying to recover Suzie's personnel file, but she had always been good at computers, and had erased every trace of her existence from Torchwood. "She was good at computers. She was good at everything," Rose gave a small laugh.

"She was good at murder too," Owen snarked. "Laugh a minute, that was Suzie." Rose rolled her eyes at him.

"What's that?"Gwen asked the Doctor, who was holding a light blue book, very thick.

"Emily Dickinson. Poet." He placed the book on top of a dusty box and looked briefly around the room as Tosh stood up, holding a familiar piece of paper.

"Jack, I found it. Pilgrim. She was part of it."

Jack sighed as he looked at the paper. "Guess that's it then. No choice. It's time to bring Suzie back."

OOO

They were all gathered in the autopsy room, avoiding looking at the frozen corpse of their ex-colleague. Gwen was the first to speak.

"Do we all get frozen? Torchwood staff, do we all get kept?"

"Rules and Regulations," Jack quoted again

"For how long?" Gwen asked, for the first time wondering just how permanent this job was.

"Forever."

"Recording," Tosh informed them, breaking the conversation, and bringing them back to the present.

"Have you got your stopwatch?" Owen asked Ianto, who grinned and held up the shiny gold timepiece.

"Always,"

Tosh looked fidgety. "If you don't mind, I'll record from my station. I don't want to look her in the eye." Tosh apologized as she climbed up the stairs.

Jack nodded. "Anyone else?" Nobody moved. The Doctor and Rose took a position by the side of the table, and Owen stood by his monitors. Jack stepped away from Ianto to hand Gwen the glove. Ianto had his stopwatch at the ready, and Gwen looked down at the metallic gauntlet in her hand.

"Remember, Empathy," Jack reminded her.

"Yeah I know. Even though she tried to kill me."

Rose smiled bitterly. "You and me both." They met eyes before Gwen turned and approached the pale corpse of Suzie Costello.

She pressed her gloved hand against the top of the marred head, avoiding the area where the bullet had ripped through the skull. She gasped as she felt a slight pulse, a connection between her and the dead woman. She caught glimpses of memories, pulling the trigger and watching Rose fall. Screaming, fear, and then nothing. She gasped as she withdrew.

"Nothing. Just memories. Nothing living, she's too far gone."

"So what do we do now?" Tosh asked as she stood at the top of the stairs.

"Nothing we can do. That's it, we're out of options," Jack responded, and the Doctor perked up.

"What about the knife? Didn't they link up? Metallic resonance?"

Rose's brow wrinkled. "English please?"

He smiled at her. "They're made of the same metal. The glove works better when the knife is involved, like completing a circuit,"

"Small detail," Interjected Jack, "The knife was used to kill people. She's already dead."

Gwen met his eyes evenly. "Alright, then we'll kill her again."

OOO

The knife plunged into Suzie's heart with a painful effort from Jack. Gwen gasped as Suzie's mind burst to life, and she gasped for air. Her eyes flashed open.

Jack spoke up. "Suzie? Listen." They didn't have much time.

"I've got to go. I can't stay. They know!" Suzie was hysterical, her last memories surfacing.

"Just look at where you are. Think back. Try to remember. Suzie. Suzie! Look at me." Jack attempted to bring Suzie back.

"Jack. Oh, my God." Suzie looked frantically at the weapon protruding from her chest. "There's a knife in my chest. Did you kill me?"

"You killed yourself, remember?"

"But- Oh, my God. I shot myself!"

"We've got to ask you about Pilgrim,"

"No. Wait a minute." She looked like she was thinking. "Did I kill Rose?" The Doctor stiffened as Jack continued.

"Never mind that. We need names and details." 

Suzie paused, thinking. "Who's using the glove?"

Gwen grimaced from behind the woman's head. "I'm sorry,"

Suzie laughed exasperatedly. "Oh, wouldn't you know it, Gwen bloody Cooper."

"Thirty seconds," Ianto chimed from his post by the machines.

"When you were in Pilgrim you gave the amnesia pill to a man, Max, Do you remember?" Jack continued questioning her.

"What? You brought me all the way back just for Max?"

"We need to find him. Who is he? What's his surname?"

Suzie was quickly fading. "He was just some loser." She slurred out.

"We're losing her." Owen watched as her vital signs quickly deteriorated.

"Stay here, damn you!" Gwen squeezed her eyes hut, feeling for the bond between their consciousnesses.

"Don't force it, Gwen," The Doctor cautioned her.

"She's not getting away this time." She muttered to Suzie now. "Stay here," She could feel the bond slipping "No!" She yanked with her mind, pulling Suzie back. She jerked back, feeling her mind go black as she fell back.

Owen and Jack rushed to her side as she slid to the floor. Jack pulled the glove off her as Owen checked her pulse and breathing. Rose and the Doctor watched as Owen gathered her up gingerly. "She's fine, I've got her. We need to get her out of here, can you give me a hand?" He asked the Doctor, who pushed back a infuriated Jack.

"It's the glove!" The leader said, shaking the glove in his hand. "I told you, they get hooked!"

"Alright," Rose soothed, "It's over now, let's just get her taken care of."

Ianto interrupted quietly. "Um, excuse me?" They turned to him. "I'm still counting." He gestured to his ticking watch.

"Not much point, Suzie's dead." Owen pointed out.

"No, according to the equipment, she's just unconscious." Ianto pointed at the screen, and Owen rushed over to it. His eyes widened as he saw Ianto was right. Jack walked over to the previously dead woman.

"Oh my god," Rose gasped as she saw the steady rise and fall of her chest. "She's bloody breathing and everything!"

"She can't be!" Jack gripped the handle of the knife and yanked it from Suzie's chest, but the readings did not change.

"Still breathing. There's no stopping her," Owen breathed. "One minute thirty and counting."

OOO

It took a little over an hour for Suzie to come to. She was positioned in a wheelchair facing a table in he interrogation room. Jack and Gwen were the only ones prepared to confront her. Rose was not quite ready to face her would-be killer. She sat chewing on her nail, the Doctor's arm pressed against hers. She was sure as long as Suzie was around, he would be glued to her side. She watched the monitor as Jack and Gwen approached the drowsy non-corpse.

"How's long it been?" the woman asked.

"Three months." Jack responded.

"When can I die? I just want to go. Can't you leave me alone?" Rose snorted at this. She was seriously complaining about wanting to die to Jack? The man who could never ever die.

"You seem to be stuck."

"But, am I gonna stay like this? For how long?"

"Don't know." It was Gwen who answered her this time.

"Can I see my father?"

"No."

Gwen gave him a look. "You wiped your records. We had no trace of him." She explained, a little softer.

Suzie leveled her gaze at them. "So he doesn't even know that I'm dead?"

"Well, you're not any more." Gwen reasoned.

Suzie snorted, not very comforted. "This is sick."

"You started it." Jack said, and Rose was reminded of a small child. "Right now, we've got an investigation underway. Pilgrim. You visited these Pilgrim meetings and gave an amnesia pill to someone called Max. How do we find him?"

"What for? What did he do? He was just an ordinary bloke."

"We think the Retcon triggered a psychosis. He's started killing."

"How many victims?" Suzie looked honestly confused.

"Three. Same as you." Gwen snarked as she placed a file roughly down on the table.

Owen sighed and grabbed a microphone. "We need to know. How much Retcon did you give him?"

Suzie looked up as his voice was broadcast into the room. "Owen. Hello. Scared to face me?" Her voice was bitter.

He looked slightly ashamed as he answered her. "You frighten the shit out of me, yeah."

"What about Toshiko? Is she still here?"

Owen met the woman in questions eyes before answering. "Yeah, she's here."

"And the Doctor?"

"Yeah. The old gang, back together. Happy days." Owen muttered sarcastically.

"He stuck around without Rose?" She looked genuinely curious, with just a hint of remorse.

Rose breathed frustratedly and grabbed the mic from Owen. "Yea, it was a real struggle." She watched as Suzie's head snapped up in response to her voice, confusion clear on her face "The amnesia pills, Suzie. How many?"

Suzie sighed in resignation. "Once a week. Every week." She paused. "For two years."

"Jesus," Owen muttered, and he heard Rose breath out a shocked breath. "No wonder."

"What the hell did you do that for?" Jack questioned her angrily.

She looked intimidated and defensive, hunched over into herself. "I just, I wanted someone to talk to. About this place. It was driving me mad. And he was just. He listened, that's all. He just listened. Every week, as soon as I'd finished talking, I'd give him the pill."

"You overdosed him." the man accused.

"I didn't know that." Suzie defended. "Keep getting it wrong, don't I? Is that why you brought me back? Did you think I wasn't guilty enough?"

"What was his surname?" Jack didn't respond to her accusations.

"I don't know. All I ever did was talk about me. It's all my fault, isn't it? Never bloody stops being my fault. Can't you just let me die?" Her eyes were sad and tired. 

"You don't get off that easy." Jack was cold.

"Yeah, you did warn me right at the beginning." She turned to Gwen. "He said, this is the one job you can never quit."

"Then let's get to work. Come on, Suzie. Just like the old days. There's gotta be something." He urged her, pushing the pictures towards her. They were spread out across the table.

Suzie complied, and leaned forward with a bit of effort, studying the pictures. "Hold on. There's someone missing. This girl came every week. Student, blonde. She's not in these photos."

"Who was she?" He asked urgently. They wouldn't have a lot of time if Max was after her as well.

"Lucy. Lucy Mackenzie. Said she worked at a club." Suzie leaned back, drained.

"Which one?"

Suzie's eyelids drooped. "Tired."

"Come on, Suzie?" He leaned over her. "Which club? For God's sake, this Max is killing every single member of Pilgrim. Now tell me. Lucy Mackenzie, where did she work? Which club!"

She finally responded. "Wolf. The Bad Wolf Bar."

**I'm baaack this took me a couple days to write but I have had sooo much schoolwork and I had a small breakdown earlier, so forgive me friends! Thanks to LoveARose for reviewing! Sorry I haven't been updating so much, I'm so happy you like it! :) So you all should follow her example and gimmie some love! Follow, favorite, and review my loves! Xoxo, Roxy**


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